Monday, July 17, 2023

Harry Everett Townsend, War Artist

Harry Everett Townsend (1879–1941) was a painter and illustrator best known today for his work as a war artist in the Great War.  His Wikipedia entry is here, and David Apatoff discusses him here.

I found very few examples of his commercial illustration work on the Internet.  If there were post- World War 1 examples, I missed them.

Townsend had a good eye for details of people in movement as well as of objects such as aircraft and tanks.  This meant he had a sense of structure, how things were formed.  There are artists of the modern variety who have trouble depicting machines convincingly.

I think he was one of the best of the group of artists commissioned to record the war.  The war images below are from 1918 when the U.S. Expeditionary Force was in action.

Gallery

Photo of Townsend, his cello, and wife
This seems to be from 1910 or so.

The Love Letter
He added a cello in the background for some reason.

Woman Playing a Mandolin - c.1911
Nice composition, coloration, and brushwork.

Lincoln and Harriet Beecher Stowe - 1911
Illustration.  She wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin" a book that was an important pre- Civil War abolitionist work.

A Quiet Sector in Lorraine, Opposite Domevre
"Tin-hat" British type helmets are not easy for some artists to draw convincingly, but Townsend could do so better, but not always perfectly.

Back from the Fight
Compare this treatment to that of "Woman Playing a Mandolin" above.  The tank is a French-built Renault FT light tank.

On Gas Alert
Both sides used poisonous gas during the Great War.

Soldiers of the Telephone
From around September 1914 until March 1918, front lines were fairly stable.  Much communication was handled by field telephone, with wires strung from the front trench back to headquarters.  An uncle of mine enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, but the war ended before he left Camp Lewis in Washington state.

Refugees from Château-Thierry Sector
One of Germany's final desperation offensives was aimed at the Château-Thierry area.  Here Townsend shows civilians heading south and an American artillery battery going north.  This was a French army sector, but some American units were called in to assist the defense.

Sketch
Townsend's first step in creating his war illustrations.

Two Six-Ton Tanks Climbing a Hill
Renault FT light tanks in a training exercise.  George S. Patton commanded a tank brigade before he was wounded.

No comments:

Post a Comment