We’ve seen the work of the great American magazine illustrator Leyendecker here and here, so it’s appropriate we feature another great American illustrator, the one and only Norman Rockwell, on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post, on 15 December 1945, after the end of World War Two. Like most of Rockwell’s art, it…
Tag: Bombing / Bomber
Heil Bone Hand
Today’s Poster is a remarkable one, from a German magazine in the pre-World War Two era, when the horrors of the Spanish Civil War were new, and featuring the classic propaganda theme of the slaughtered innocents. Here, however, with the relatively new inclusion of combat aircraft. In some ways it’s a simple image, as well…
13th On The Nose
Today we are lucky to have a Friday the 13th, so here’s a look at a particularly unusual nose art. We start with a rare wartime colour shot of the nose art on Handley Page Halifax LV907 on public display on the heavily bombed Oxford Street, London. The text: “As ye sew so shall ye…
Hindermost
Today’s something different again. Here’s the postwar painting entitled ‘Bomber Crash’ by Australian Frank Hinder, who was working with the Camouflage Wing of the Royal Australian Engineers during World War Two. At first it seems to be a semi-abstract fire image, the details become evident as the picture is read. Held in the Australian War…
Asking For It
Today’s Poster is a German Great War example entitled ‘Was England will’, or ‘What England wants.’ It’s a powerful poster, showing swarms of British bombers – giant Handley Pages – attacking German factories. The poster is by Egon Tschirch (1889-1948) made in 1918 in Berlin for Selmar Bayer. The background’s even more interesting. The text…
Camo from the Copy
Today an advertisement thanks to Airminded on Twitter. As well as the proposition (‘call us to camouflage your buildings or they may get bombed’, – definitely not a “nice factory, be a shame if something HAPPENED to it” angle of course!) the aircraft caught my eye. It’s not a German type, despite the prominent Swastika…
Firebomb Fritz
A wartime British defensive propaganda character (mostly forgotten today) was ‘Firebomb Fritz’. Here in colour: …and here in black and white, both by Reginald Mount. (Original UK National Archives caption: “Fritz in Nazi bomber” by Reginald Mount, 1942 Catalogue ref: INF 3/1421. The cartoon depicts determined (but subservient) looking German air force men flying towards…
Plane Wallpaper
Another first today, original wallpaper Shared by Don Richardson on America in the 1940s Facebook group, this is a real insight to a really forgotten vernacular household style. Don stated: “We were repairing a water leak in our old house today and found this wallpaper way down deep!” The Statue of Liberty looks like a…
Bombay over England
Today’s Poster is a classic Shell oil item. The Smithsonian’s catalogue reads: “‘FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE LUBRICATION BY SHELL.’ Framed multi-color print advertising for Shell lubricant. Illustrated with three Bristol Bombays flying over the English countryside.” Artist Karl Felkel (Austrian, 1896–1973). James Kightly, Vintage Aero Writer. Source, National Air and Space Museum here.
Pardo’s Push
Today we have a great example where an original commercial painting fulfils an important illustrative role of an event – not otherwise captured in the full colour movie and photo age of 1967. The Vietnam War. It required artist Ken Dallison in Esquire to bring the event to us in pictorial form. The story is…
A Year of Aviation Illustration & Art 