Existing comment:
Introduction to the Official US War Artists
In July 1917, the recently organized Committee on Public Information, established to coordinate propaganda for the American war effort, decided that artists should be sent to the Western Front in France to record their impressions. Two major agencies, the US Army Signal Corps and the Army Corps of Engineers, were entrusted to launch the program. Ultimately, eight artists were selected to become official artists, commissioned as captains in the Engineer Reserve Corps, to document the American Expeditionary Forces' war efforts. The images displayed comprise a selection of works produced by the Expeditionary Force Artists as well as a sampling of art created by unofficial American soldier-artists. |