Artist:
N.C. Wyeth
(American, 1882 - 1945)
Uncle Sam / Buy War Bonds
Alternate Title(s):Fighting Uncle Sam
Date: 1942
Dimensions:
dimensions unavailable
known by reproduction only
Accession number: SUPP2000.1391
Research Number: NCW: 1391
Exhibition HistoryBrooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (and other venues), "Art For Bonds," April 9 - 30, 1943, subtitled "Original Paintings by American Artists / Designed for Poster Use / Sponsored by the Treasury Department's National Committee of Honorary Patrons," as "Uncle Sam," no. 36
References
"Art for Bonds," Art News, vol. XLII, no. 5 (April 15-30, 1943), p. 6; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, 1972), p. 289; Jonathan Heller, ed., War & Conflict, Selected Images from the National Archives, 1765-1970 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1990), illustration in b/w, p. 185, no. 767 (reproduction from poster); Tom Brokaw, et al., One Nation, Patriots and Pirates Portrayed by N. C. Wyeth and James Wyeth (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2000), frontispiece (reproduction from poster); Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), C.169, p. 694
Curatorial RemarksIn 1946, James P. Simpson confirmed that this image had been published for the Treasury Department in the spring of 1942, and supplied to Savings Bond Division field offices "in large quantity and in several different sizes" (L. M. Olney, Savings Bond Division, U. S. Treasury Department to JPS, Aug. 9, 1946, Brandywine River Museum library). The artist won a special citation for the design, presented at the opening of the Brooklyn Museum exhibition in April, 1943 (NCW to Caroline Pyle Wyeth, April 4, 1943, Wyeth Family Archives). Promotional literature released in conjunction with the exhibition noted that Wyeth's was, if not the most popular, then certainly among the most popular posters issued (Brooklyn Museum of Art Archives, Records of the Office of Director, L. P. Richards, 1938-1943, Exhibitions: Art for Bonds). A reproduction printed on cover-weight paper in the Brandywine River Museum library collection suggests that the image also was used as a cover illustration for a WWII era magazine.
The Brandywine River Museum holds a lantern slide of the composition drawing for this image (NCWS.95.1825.226) used in the transfer of the design from paper to painting support. The image was reproduced as a .33 United States postage stamp in 1999.
The Brandywine River Museum holds a lantern slide of the composition drawing for this image (NCWS.95.1825.226) used in the transfer of the design from paper to painting support. The image was reproduced as a .33 United States postage stamp in 1999.
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:2. composition drawing (location unknown) from lantern slide (Brandywine River Museum, NCWS.95.1825.226)