United States Army Art Program
Encyclopedia
The U.S. Army Art Program or United States Army Combat Art Program is a program created by the United States Army
to create artwork for museums and other programs sponsored by the US Army. The collection associated with the program is held by the United States Army Center of Military History, as part of their Museums collection.
when eight artists
(see the list at AEF artists) were commissioned as captains in the Corps of Engineers
and were sent to Europe to record the activities of the American Expeditionary Forces. At the end of the war most of the team's artwork went to the Smithsonian Institution
, which at that time was the custodian of Army historical property and art.
There was no Army program for acquiring art during the interwar years, but with the advent of World War II the Corps of Engineers, drawing on its World War I experience, established a War Art Unit in late 1942. The Associated American Artists
helped the Army recruit artists and the War department established a War Art Advisory Committee, a select group of civilian art experts, who selected artists to work in the program. By the spring of 1943 the committee had selected 42 artists: 23 active duty military and 19 civilians. These artists included Reginald Marsh
, Jack Levine
, Joe Jones
, Mitchell Siporin
, Aaron Bohrod
, and Henry Vernum Poor. The first artists were sent to the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
, but in May 1943 Congress withdrew funding from the program and the War Art Unit was inactivated. The Army assigned the military artists to other units and released the civilians.
The effort to create a visual record of the American military experience in World War II was then taken up by the private sector in two different programs, one by Life magazine and one by Abbott Laboratories
, a large medical supply company. When Life offered to employ civilian artists as was correspondents, the War Department agreed to provide them the same support already being given to print and film correspondents. Seventeen of nineteen civilians artists who had been selected by the War Art Committee joined Life as war correspondents. A deal was struck between, then editor of Life, Daniel Longwell and the Secretary of War for the artists to receive the same treatment as news correspondents. Abbott, in coordination with the Army's Office of the Surgeon General, commissioned twelve artists to record the work of the Army Medical Corps
. These two programs resulted in a wide range of work by distinguished artists who had the opportunity to observe the war firsthand.
By the end of World War II the Army had acquired over 2,000 pieces of art. In June 1945 the Army established a Historical Properties Section to maintain and exhibit this collection, thus creating the nucleus of today's Army art Collection. On 7 December 1960, Life also presented 1050 works by its own correspondents to the Defense Department, many which the Army later received. In 1947, the Army Art program also assumed custody of 8,000 German war art, created by similar Nazi programs, including four architectural renderings by Adolf Hitler
.
, Vietnam War
, Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the Global War on Terrorism as well as other operations by the Army. Although no official artists were forwarded to Korea by the Army, nine combat artists teams operated in Vietnam from 1966–1970 as part of the U.S. Army Vietnam Combat Artists Program
. The Chief of Military History, developed the Army Art Program as it is today, with specialized training for both civilian and military artists who went into the field as complete units.
As of November 2010, the Army Art collection comprises over 15,500 works of art from over 1300 artists. The Army Staff Artist Program was assigned to the United States Army Center of Military History, Museum Division in 1992 and where it has been established as a permanent part of the Museum Division's Collections Branch.
in Philadelphia, PA will host an exhibit entitled "Art of the American Soldier" featuring more than 300 works from the army art collection, one of the first times that the Army Art from the Army Art Program has been put on display en masse. In addition to the 300 works, soldier/artists were also given the opportunity to submit works to be part of digital kiosks at the exhibit. The exhibit was designed to contain highly realistic works, such as those of U.S. Army artist, Master Sergent Martin Cervantez. Cervantez commented on his pieces on display in Reuters on the nature of the exhibit "If a soldier takes his family to the museum, I want them to be able to say, 'That's what it was like.'""
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
to create artwork for museums and other programs sponsored by the US Army. The collection associated with the program is held by the United States Army Center of Military History, as part of their Museums collection.
History
The Army's official interest in art originated in World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
when eight artists
American official war artists
American official war artists have been part of the American military since 1917. Artists are unlike the objective camera lens which records only a single instant and no more. The war artist captures instantaneous action and conflates earlier moments of the same scene within one compelling...
(see the list at AEF artists) were commissioned as captains in the Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
and were sent to Europe to record the activities of the American Expeditionary Forces. At the end of the war most of the team's artwork went to the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, which at that time was the custodian of Army historical property and art.
There was no Army program for acquiring art during the interwar years, but with the advent of World War II the Corps of Engineers, drawing on its World War I experience, established a War Art Unit in late 1942. The Associated American Artists
Associated American Artists
Associated American Artists is an art gallery and business established in 1934 in New York City. The gallery marketed art to the middle classes, first in the form of affordable prints and later in home furnishings and accessories, and played a significant role in the growth of art as an...
helped the Army recruit artists and the War department established a War Art Advisory Committee, a select group of civilian art experts, who selected artists to work in the program. By the spring of 1943 the committee had selected 42 artists: 23 active duty military and 19 civilians. These artists included Reginald Marsh
Reginald Marsh (artist)
Reginald Marsh was an American painter, born in Paris, most notable for his depictions of life in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. Crowded Coney Island beach scenes, popular entertainments such as vaudeville and burlesque, women, and jobless men on the Bowery are subjects that reappear...
, Jack Levine
Jack Levine
Jack Levine was an American Social Realist painter and printmaker best known for his satires on modern life, political corruption, and biblical narratives.-Biography:...
, Joe Jones
Joe Jones (artist)
Joseph John Jones was a 20th century artist: painter, landscape painter, lithographer, and muralist. TIME magazine followed him throughout his career. Although Jones was never a member of the John Reed Club, his name is closely associated with its artistic members, most of them also...
, Mitchell Siporin
Mitchell Siporin
-Biography:Mitchell Siporin was born in New York City and grew up in Chicago. Through the Works Progress Administration, he worked as a painter. Together with Edward Milman, he painted the frescoes in the Central Post Office in St Louis. From 1946 to 1949, he served in the army in North Africa and...
, Aaron Bohrod
Aaron Bohrod
Aaron Bohrod was an American artist best known for his trompe-l'oeil still-life paintings.Bohrad was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1907, the son of an emigree Russian grocer. Bohrod studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League of New York between 1926 and 1930...
, and Henry Vernum Poor. The first artists were sent to the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
The Pacific Ocean theatre was one of four major naval theatres of war of World War II, which pitted the forces of Japan against those of the United States, the British Commonwealth, the Netherlands and France....
, but in May 1943 Congress withdrew funding from the program and the War Art Unit was inactivated. The Army assigned the military artists to other units and released the civilians.
The effort to create a visual record of the American military experience in World War II was then taken up by the private sector in two different programs, one by Life magazine and one by Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories is an American-based global, diversified pharmaceuticals and health care products company. It has 90,000 employees and operates in over 130 countries. The company headquarters are in Abbott Park, North Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded by Chicago physician, Dr....
, a large medical supply company. When Life offered to employ civilian artists as was correspondents, the War Department agreed to provide them the same support already being given to print and film correspondents. Seventeen of nineteen civilians artists who had been selected by the War Art Committee joined Life as war correspondents. A deal was struck between, then editor of Life, Daniel Longwell and the Secretary of War for the artists to receive the same treatment as news correspondents. Abbott, in coordination with the Army's Office of the Surgeon General, commissioned twelve artists to record the work of the Army Medical Corps
Medical Corps (United States Army)
The Medical Corps of the U.S. Army is a staff corps of the U.S. Army Medical Department consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an MD or a DO degree, at least one year of post-graduate clinical training, and a state medical license.The MC traces its earliest origins...
. These two programs resulted in a wide range of work by distinguished artists who had the opportunity to observe the war firsthand.
By the end of World War II the Army had acquired over 2,000 pieces of art. In June 1945 the Army established a Historical Properties Section to maintain and exhibit this collection, thus creating the nucleus of today's Army art Collection. On 7 December 1960, Life also presented 1050 works by its own correspondents to the Defense Department, many which the Army later received. In 1947, the Army Art program also assumed custody of 8,000 German war art, created by similar Nazi programs, including four architectural renderings by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
.
Official Army Art Program
War art continued through subsequent wars, including the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the Global War on Terrorism as well as other operations by the Army. Although no official artists were forwarded to Korea by the Army, nine combat artists teams operated in Vietnam from 1966–1970 as part of the U.S. Army Vietnam Combat Artists Program
Vietnam Combat Artists Program
In June 1966, the Army Vietnam Combat Artists Program was established as part of the United States Army Art Program, utilizing teams of soldier-artists to make pictorial records of U.S. Army activities in the course of the Vietnam War for the annals of military history. The concept of the Vietnam...
. The Chief of Military History, developed the Army Art Program as it is today, with specialized training for both civilian and military artists who went into the field as complete units.
As of November 2010, the Army Art collection comprises over 15,500 works of art from over 1300 artists. The Army Staff Artist Program was assigned to the United States Army Center of Military History, Museum Division in 1992 and where it has been established as a permanent part of the Museum Division's Collections Branch.
Public showings
In September 2010 the National Constitution CenterNational Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center is an organization that seeks to expand awareness and understanding of the United States Constitution and operates a museum to advance those purposes....
in Philadelphia, PA will host an exhibit entitled "Art of the American Soldier" featuring more than 300 works from the army art collection, one of the first times that the Army Art from the Army Art Program has been put on display en masse. In addition to the 300 works, soldier/artists were also given the opportunity to submit works to be part of digital kiosks at the exhibit. The exhibit was designed to contain highly realistic works, such as those of U.S. Army artist, Master Sergent Martin Cervantez. Cervantez commented on his pieces on display in Reuters on the nature of the exhibit "If a soldier takes his family to the museum, I want them to be able to say, 'That's what it was like.'""
External links
- Artwork from the Art Program at the United States Army Center of Military History webpage
- The Army's Hidden Treasures by Rita Braver, CBS News (video)
- Art of the American Soldier, U.S. Army produced YouTube program (video)
- Website for the 2010 showing which includes a number of images and information about the collection
- Face of Defense: Guardsman Paints to Document Deployment Heather Englehart and her experience as a soldier artist in Iraq
- Still Dreaming of Painting More War Scenes Another article about soldier artist Heather Englehart
- Army Artists Look At The War On Terrorism 2001 to the Present E-book published by the U.S. Army Center of Military History