During World War I, the impact of the poster as a means of communication was greater than at any other time during history. The ability of posters to inspire, inform, and persuade combined with vibrant design trends in many of the participating countries to produce thousands of interesting visual works. As a valuable historical research resource, the posters provide multiple points of view for understanding this global conflict. As artistic works, the posters range in style from graphically vibrant works by well-known designers to anonymous broadsides (predominantly text).
For more information see part 1. For earlier examples see parts 1 - 8 also.
This is part 9 of a 9-part series on WW1 posters.
Notes on Lucian Bernhard in Part 5.
Notes on Ludwig Hohlwein in Part 1.
Notes on John Emmet Sheridan in Part 6.
Notes on Henry Patrick Raleigh in Part 3.
Notes on James Allen St. John in Part 3.
Notes on Herbert Andrew Paus in Part 7.
Notes on CHarles Edward Chambers in Part 4.
Notes on Lucian Bernhard in Part 5.
Leone Michael Bracker (1885 – 1937) was the artist who painted the cover illustration for the first issue of Adventure magazine, for the serial novel “Yellow Men and Gold” by the author Gouveneur Morris. He was a prominent magazine and advertising illustrator who was well known for his war poster designs.
Notes on Howard Chandler Christy in Part 1.
Notes on Andrew Herbert Paus in Part 7.
For more information see part 1. For earlier examples see parts 1 - 8 also.
This is part 9 of a 9-part series on WW1 posters.
 |
| 1918 Zeichtnet die Neunte! Es geht un Alles was wir lieben! by Lucian Bernhard ( Germany ) colour lithograph 70 x 47 cm |
Notes on Lucian Bernhard in Part 5.
 |
| 1918-18 Ludendorff-Spende für Kriegsbeschädigte by Ludwig Hohlwein ( Germany ) colour lithograph 61 x 90 cm |
Notes on Ludwig Hohlwein in Part 1.
 |
| 1918-20 Wahr dich, Wehr dich, Wach auf Melde dich zur Bayr. Reichswehr by Ludwig Hohlwein ( Germany ) colour lithograph 91 x 70 cm |
 |
| 1918c Food is ammunition - Don't waste it. by John Emmet Sheridan ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Notes on John Emmet Sheridan in Part 6.
 |
| 1918c Get behind the Girl he left behind him Join the land army ( USA ) colour lithograph 77.8 x 50.4 cm |
 |
| 1918c Halt the Hun! Buy U.S. Government Bonds Third Liberty Loan by Henry Patrick Raleigh ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Notes on Henry Patrick Raleigh in Part 3.
 |
| 1918c Hand It To 'em The Salvation Army Gets It To The Boys In The Trenches Over There by James Allen St. John ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Notes on James Allen St. John in Part 3.
 |
| 1918c Help him win by Saving and Serving Buy War Savings Stamps ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 51 cm |
 |
| 1918c Help! The Woman's Land Army of America by Charles Dana Gibson colour lithograph 103 x 69 cm |
Charles Dana Gibson ( 1867 Roxbury, MA – 1944 ) was an American graphic artist, best known for his creation of the Gibson Girl, an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent American woman at the turn of the 20th century.
His wife, Irene Langhorne, and her four beautiful sisters, inspired his images. He published his illustrations in Life magazine and other major national publications for more than 30 years, becoming editor in 1918 and later owner of the general interest magazine.
 |
| 1918c Keep these off the U.S.A Buy more Liberty Bonds ( USA ) by John Norton colour lithograph 102 x 77 cm |
John Warner Norton ( 1876–1934 ).
 |
| 1918c Lest We Perish Campaign for $30,000,000. by Ethel Franklin Betts ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Ethel Franklin Betts ( 1850 – 1956 ) The sister of Anna Whelan Betts, Ethel followed the same patterns as her exemplary sibling, first studying art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and later enrolling in the Howard Pyle illustration classes at Drexel Institute and then later in Wilmington, Delaware at the Howard Pyle School of Art which she attended in 1900. Ethel, her sister Anna, and art student Dorothy Warren, shared a studio and living quarters in Wilmington, for two years during their tutelage period with Pyle.
She married in 1909, but illustrated little thereafter, although she was invited frequently to exhibit her portfolio of illustrations and did so with great gusto, craving some recognition during a dormant part of her life. She would offer her tattered portfolio of originals, well into the 1930’s for scholastic exhibitions and even for unique shows of Howard Pyle’s students and their work.
 |
| 1918c Our Boys Need Sox Knit Your Bit ( USA ) colour lithograph |
 |
| 1918c Remember Belgium Buy bonds-Fourth Liberty Loan by Ellsworth Young ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Ellsworth Young ( 1866 Albia, Iowa – 1952 Evanston, Illinois ) was an American magazine and book illustrator, and a noted painter of landscapes. He worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Collection of the Illinois State Museum, and was employed by the Denver Times and The Chicago Tribune as an editorial illustrator. Ellsworth Young studied at The Art Institute of Chicago with Oliver Dennett Grover and John Vanderpoel.
Young was a member of the Chicago Painters and Sculptors and the Oak Park River Forest Art League. He painted several posters for the war effort of World War I, his best-known probably being "Remember Belgium". The Allied Nations made use of images of supposed German atrocities to bolster their propaganda machine.
 |
| 1918c Save your Child from Autocracy and Poverty BUY War Savings Stamps by Herbert Andrew Paus ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Notes on Herbert Andrew Paus in Part 7.
 |
| 1918c These Men Have Come Across They Are at the Front Now Join Them Enlist in the Navy by Frank Xavier Leyendecker ( USA ) colour photomechanical print |
Although Frank Xavier Leyendecker (1876-1924) was the younger brother of famed illustrator J.C. Leyendecker, he was no less talented and creative. F.X. Leyendecker painted several cover for Collier’s magazine between 1902 and 1905, making him better known than his brother for a short period of time. During their early careers, the two shared a home and studio, and a lively, competitive spirit with regard to their work.
Born Franz Xavier Leyendecker in Montabaur, Germany, Leyendecker emigrated to the U.S. at six years old with his brother, Joseph Christian, and his sister, Augusta. He studied at the Chicago Art Institute and the Académie Julian in Paris under Benjamin Constant. In addition to producing numerous covers for Collier's, Leyendecker also illustrated for Life, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and The SaturdayEvening Post, among others.
In his 1960 autobiography, My Adventures as an Illustrator, Norman Rockwell recounts a story about a dinner that he and his wife Irene O’Connor hosted many years before for neighbours J.C. and F.X. Leyendecker in New Rochelle, New York. “They were quite short and walked in step with real military precision,” Rockwell noted. “They wore white flannels, double-breasted blue blazers with shiny brass buttons, and stiff straw hats.” In an uncomfortable twist of fate, the turkey that had been prepared crashed to the floor and rolled under the dining room table shortly after their arrival. The incident broke the ice and did not dampen their spirits. “When that turkey bounced under the table we all of a sudden became friends. We remained friends for over twenty-five years.”
 |
| 1918c We've fought in the open - bubonic plague, yellow fever, tuberculosis-now venereal diseases by H. Devitt Welsh ( USA ) colour lithograph 52.1 x 70.5 cm |
H. Devitt Welsh (1888 – 1942).
 |
| 1919 "A Man May Be Down But He's Never Out!" by 1919 "A man may be down but he's never out!" by Frederick Duncan ( USA ) colour lithograph 102 x 76 cm ( USA ) colour lithograph 102 x 76 cm |
 |
| 1919 Adventure and Action Enlist in the Field Artillery - U.S. Army by Harry S. Mueller ( USA ) colour lithograph |
 |
| 1919 Americans All! Victory Liberty Loan ( USA ) colour lithograph |
 |
| 1919 Canadian National Exhibition Toronto by J.E.H. MacDonald ( Canada ) colour lithograph 103 x 45 cm Notes on James Edward Hervey MacDonald in Part 2. |
 |
| 1919 Deutschlands ideale Zukunft unter der Herrschaft des Bolschewisten by M. Kassin ( Germany ) colour lithograph 124 x 93 cm |
 |
| 1919 Die Gefahr des Bolschewismus by Rudi Feld ( Germany ) colour lithograph 94 x 69 cm |
Rudi Feld (1896–1994) was a German art director who settled and worked for many years in the United States. Feld was born Rudi Feilchenfeld in Berlin, the elder brother of the actor Fritz Feld. During his early career he worked designing posters for revue and cabaret shows, before graduating to creating film sets. Feld worked in the German film industry during the boom years of the late silent era. He was employed by the German Major studio UFA as head of advertising. He designed the exterior displays of the flagship UFAcinema Ufa-Palast am Zoo for each new premiere.
Following the Nazi rise to power in 1933 Feld went into exile. Hesettled in Mandatory Palestine where he briefly owned a nightclub. In 1937 he emigrated to the United States and from the mid-1940s he found regular work in the American film industry. He was frequently employed smaller Hoolywood studios such as Eagle-Lion during the post WW2 years, and continued working until 1969.
 |
| 1919 Facing the Future by Charles Edward Chambers ( USA ) colour offset lithograph 91 x 51 cm |
Notes on CHarles Edward Chambers in Part 4.
 |
| 1919 Helping Hoover in our U.S. School Garden ( USA ) chromolithograph 77 x 51 cm |
 |
| 1919 They Kept the Sea Lanes OpenInvest in the Victory Liberty Loan by Leon Alaric Shafer ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Leon Alaric Shafer (1866-1940) was a painter, etcher and illustrator best known for his maritime and military subjects. He contributed illustrations to books and to periodicals such as the New York Herald, and cover art for American Legion Monthly and The Literary Digest.
 |
| 1919 It Sustained Him - And it Supported the War-time Agencies that Helped Him! by Michael Leone Bracker ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 49 cm |
Leone Michael Bracker (1885 – 1937) was the artist who painted the cover illustration for the first issue of Adventure magazine, for the serial novel “Yellow Men and Gold” by the author Gouveneur Morris. He was a prominent magazine and advertising illustrator who was well known for his war poster designs.
 |
| 1919 Mechanical Training Enlist in the Air Service by Otho Cushing ( USA ) colour lithograph 64 x 47 cm |
Otho Williams McD. Cushing( 1870/1871 – 1942)was an American artist, known primarily for his early 20th century illustration and cartoons, for magazines and posters.His sometimes-homoerotic style, often featuring classical figures, was influenced by Frederic Leighton, J. C. Leyendecker, and Aubrey Beardsley.
Cushing was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of an Army officer, he spent his youth in different cities where his father was stationed; in 1880 the family lived in Providence, Rhode Island. He studied art at Tufts School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and in 1891 at the Académie Julian in Paris.
He returned to Boston in September 1893 and became drawing instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He published drawings in Life magazine. Around 1900, he returned to Paris, where he became artistic director of the New York Herald European edition.When he returned to the United States, he lived in New York and was friends with Charles Allan Gilbert. In 1907, Life published a series of his cartoons about President Theodore Roosevelt entitled The Teddyssey (a parody of The Odyssey.)
In 1917, he left Life magazine and joined the Army Air Service, serving as a captain in charge of "supervising the camouflaging of American airfields on the Western Front".Several of his posters and drawings deal with the American involvement in World War 1. After the war, he retired to New Rochelle with his younger brother, architect Nicholas Cooke Cushing, and embraced a career as watercolourist.
 |
| 1919 Nieder mit dem Bolschewismus ( Germany ) colour lithograph 67 x 101 cm |
 |
| 1919 Salvation Army "A Man May Be Down But He's Never Out!" by Frederick Duncan ( USA ) colour lithograph 102 x 76 cm |
 |
| 1919 Scharfschützenkorps Prey. Nur ausgesuchte Leute aller Waffen, meldet Euch by Leo Impekoven ( Germany ) colour lithograph 95 x 64 cm |
Leo Impekoven a Berlin, Germany artist (1873 – 1943 )
 |
| 1919 Schützt die Heimat! by Lucian Bernhard ( Germany ) colour lithograph 89 x 69 cm |
Notes on Lucian Bernhard in Part 5.
 |
| 1919 Shall Chaos Triumph? Victory Fund Campaign by M. Leone Bracker ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 49 cm |
Leone Michael Bracker (1885 – 1937) was the artist who painted the cover illustration for the first issue of Adventure magazine, for the serial novel “Yellow Men and Gold” by the author Gouveneur Morris. He was a prominent magazine and advertising illustrator who was well known for his war poster designs.
 |
| 1919 Deutsche Männer schütt Eure Heimat! Tretet ein beim Sturmbataillon Schmidt by Leo Impekoven ( Germany ) colour lithograph 90 x 60 cm |
 |
| 1919 The Spirit of America Join by Howard Chandler Christy ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 51 cm |
Notes on Howard Chandler Christy in Part 1.
 |
| 1919 The Victory Loan Flyers- Watch for the Airplane Special by K. Watkins ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 51 cm |
 |
| 1919 The Veterinary Corps U.S. Army by Horst Schreck ( USA ) colour lithograph 48 x 63 cm |
 |
| 1919c Follow the Pied Piper Join the United States School Garden Army by Maginel Wright Barney ( USA ) |
Maginel Wright Enright Barney (1881 – 1966) was an American children's book illustrator and graphic artist. She was the younger sister of Frank Lloyd Wright, architect, and the mother of Elizabeth Enright, children's book writer and illustrator. Her first job as a commercial artist was with the Barnes, Crosby Co. of Chicago, where her main task was catalogue illustration. There she met Walter J. "Pat" Enright, another young artist, whom she married. The Enrights moved to New York City to further their careers. (They later divorced).
It was under the name of Maginel Wright Enright that she conducted her professional career. She illustrated 63 children's books during her lifetime, sometimes working alone and sometimes with other artists. She was acclaimed as one of "the very best artists" for children.
She wrote and illustrated “The Baby's Record Through the First Year in Song and Story” in 1928, and compiled and illustrated “Weather Signs and Rhymes” (1931).
In addition to book illustration, Wright Enright was a magazine illustrator and cover artist, working mostly for women's magazines like McClure’s and the Ladies’ Home Journal. In the 1940s, she distinguished herself as a shoe designer, creating high-fashion jewelled and sequined shoes, which were manufactured by Capezio. (See below)
 |
| Capezio shoes designed by Maginel Wright Enright Barney |
 |
| 1919c Join the Navy by Andrew Herbert Paus ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Notes on Andrew Herbert Paus in Part 7.
 |
| 1919c Join the the Air Service "Give 'er the Gun" Learn Earn by Warren Keith ( USA ) |
 |
| 1919c The United States Army builds Men Apply Nearest Recruiting Office by Herbert Andrew Paus ( USA ) colour lithograph |
 |
| 1919c War Gardens Over the Top The Seeds of Victory Insure the Fruits of Peace by Maginel Wright Barney ( USA ) 74 x 57 cm |
 |
| 1919c War Gardens Victorious Every War Garden a Peace Plant - National War Garden Commission by Maginel Wright Barney ( USA ) |