For more information see part 1. For earlier examples see parts 1 - 2 also.
This is part 3 of a 9-part series on WW1 posters.
![]() |
1915-18 You are Wanted by the U.S. Army by K.M. Bara ( USA ) colour lithograph 105 x 70 cm |
![]() |
1915-1916 Enlist by Fred Spear ( USA ) Reference to sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-Boat rotogravure 82 x 57 cm |
On
May 7, 1915, less than a year after World War 1 erupted across Europe, a German
U-boat torpedoed and sank the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner en route
from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the more than 1,900 passengers and
crew-members on board, more than 1,100 perished, including more than 120
Americans. Nearly two years would pass before the United States formally
entered World War I, but the sinking of the Lusitania played a significant role
in turning public opinion against Germany, both in the United States and
abroad.
![]() |
1916 2me Emprunt de la Defense Nationale by Alcide Robaudi ( France ) colour lithograph 119 x 80 cm |
A genre painter, he was also influenced by the
current orientalists. He was best known as the illustrator of deluxe
editions of works of famous writers such as George Sand, Paul Verlaine, and
Alexandre Dumas.
![]() |
1916 Altona's Opfertag, 18. Januar 1916 by Ailhelm Batterman ( Germany ) colour lithograph 86 x 69 cm |
Wilhelm
Jakob Batterman ( 1872-1964 ) was a German
painter.
![]() |
1916 Altonaer Kriegshilfe Blumentag by Wilhelm Batterman ( Germany ) colour lithograph 88 x 65 cm |
![]() |
1916 Aufwärts, Oberbayerische Flugspende by Fritz Erler ( Germany ) colour lithograph 125 x 87 cm |
Fritz Erler (1868 – 1940) was a German
painter, graphic designer, and scenic designer. Although most talented as an
interior designer, he is perhaps best remembered for several propaganda posters
he produced during WW1. Along with Arthur Kampf, Erler was one of the official
military painters for the Oberste Heeresleitung. His paintings were
commissioned as war propaganda.
He was
born in Frankenstein (Schlesien). Beginning in 1886 he studied under Albrecht
Bräuer at the school of art in Breslau. He also attended the Académie Julian in
Paris. In 1895 he moved to Munich and lived from 1918 in Holzhausen am Ammersee.
His first designs date from 1893: vases, glass windows, book covers, later
furniture, theatrical sets, and interior decorations. In 1896 he was a founding
member of the magazine “Jugend.” He also painted several portraits around the
start of the 20th century, most notably of Richard Strauss and Gerhart
Hauptmann.
![]() |
1916 Ausstellung für Kriegsfürsorge, Cöln, August-September 1916; Kriegsbeschädigten-fürsorge, Berufs-Ausbildung und Umbildung by Iise Hoeltx ( Germany ) colour lithograph 88 x 63 cm |
![]() |
1916 Exposition de l'oeuvre de guerre de Henry de Groux by Henri de Groux ( France ) colour lithograph 79 x 109 cm |
Henry de Groux (1866-1930) was a Belgian Symbolist,
painter, sculptor and lithographer. He spent most of his active career in Paris. He produced many
works depicting the horrors of the First World War
in the latter part of his career.
De Groux
was the son of the painter and engraver Charles de Groux. Like his father, he
trained at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Henry was elected a
member of les XX in 1886, but was
expelled in 1890 when he refused to have his works displayed in the same
gallery as Vincent van Gogh.
De Groux
subsequently moved to Paris, where he befriended Émile Zola. In Paris he also
rubbed shoulders with other artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Whistler,
Gauguin, Ensor, Rodin and Debussy.
De Groux exhibited all over Europe at the salons of
Paris, Brussels, Ostend, Spa, Amsterdam, London and Florence. In the latter
places he was interned in a psychiatric hospital. He escaped from it and walked
all the way to back to Marseille. He illustrated various literary works. He
contributed lithographs to L'Estampe originale (1893) and L'Épreuve (1895).
![]() |
1916 Gold zerschlächt Eisen. Bringt eurer Gold zur Goldankaufstelle by Julius Diez ( Germany ) colour lithograph 46 x 34 cm |
![]() |
1916 La Journée Serbe 25 juin 1916 by Charles Fouqueray ( France ) colour lithograph 114 x 81 cm |
![]() |
1916 On les aura! 2e Emprunt de la Défense Nationale Souscrivez by Abel Faivre ( France ) colour lithograph 114 x 79 cm |
Notes on Abel Faivre in Part 2.
![]() |
1916 Salon des Armées by Henri Dangon ( France ) colour lithograph 121 x 79 cm |
Not much is known about Henri Dangon except that he was an artist who was mobilised
as part of the French Army during WW1, I 1916 the Ministry of War promised
artists serving in the war that their work would be shown in the official war
exhibitions on the home front. The Government sponsored Salon des Armées to
show the work of mobilised artists. The exhibition proved very popular and
realised 60,000 francs in proceeds, which supported not only needy artists at
home but also the disabled. This poster by Dangon won First Prize: a soldier
holding a small wooden statue of Winged Victory that he has been carving.
![]() |
1916 Volkspende für die deutschen Kriegs-und Zivil-Gefangenen by Ludwig Hohlwein ( Germany ) colour lithograph 42 x 29 cm |
Notes on Ludwig Hohlwein in Part 1.
![]() |
1916 Your Country Needs You! Join the Navy Now! by Hazel Roberts ( USA ) colour lithograph |
![]() |
1916 Women Awake! Your Country Needs You by Hazel Roberts ( USA ) colour lithograph |
![]() |
1916 Zeichnet die fünfte Kriegsanleihe ( Czech Republic ) colour lithograph 148 x 85 cm |
![]() |
1916 Zeichnet vierte österreichische Kriegsanleihe by Adolf Karpellus |
![]() |
1916-18 Current Events by J. Carl Mueller ( USA ) chromolithograph poster |
![]() |
1916-18 Your Country Calls. Enlist. Plow-Buy Bonds ( USA ) colour lithograph |
![]() |
1916c Columbia Call. Enlist Now for U.S. Army by Frances Adams Halsted ( USA ) colour lithograph 102.3 x 75.4 cm |
![]() |
1917 3e Emprunt de a Défense Nationale Crédit Lyonnais by Abel Faivre ( France ) colour lithograph 80 x 59 cm |
![]() |
1917 3e Emprunt de la Défense Nationale by Auguste Leroux ( France ) colour lithograph 115 x 80 cm |
Jules Marie Auguste Leroux (1871-1954) was a
French painter and illustrator. As a young man he entered the École nationale supérieure des
arts décoratis where he studied drawing of nudes from models and after
academics. He was forced to work on fashion drawings and illustrations for
children. In 1892 he was admitted to the École nationale supérieure des
Beaux-Arts, where he studied in the studio of Léon Bonnat.
He later
left for Italy for three years of study at the Villa Medici in Rome from 1895
to 1898, accompanied by the painter Adolphe Deechenaud and musician Henri
Rabaud. At the villa, he met the musician Henri Busser, with whom he befriended
and whose portrait he painted. He exhibited at the Salon of French artists from
the beginning of the year 1898. He earned a bronze medal at the Universal
Exhibition in Paris in 1900.
He was a
Professor at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris for 30
years, a jury member of the committee of French Artists Society in 1904, an art
teacher at the Academy de la Grande Chaumiere, and was made a knight of the
Legion of Honour.
![]() |
1917 "You - Help my Boy Win the Rar" Buy a Liberty Bond ( USA ) colour lithograph 28 x 53 cm |
![]() |
1917 A Wonderful Opportunity for You. United States Navy by Charles E. Ruttan ( USA ) colour lithograph 95 x 52 cm |
In 1916
Ruttan entered the Naval Militia. His ranking in the Navy Reserve was Lieutenant. Ruttan, a qualified
pilot, was temporarily assigned to the U.S.S. Melville, which was a supply and
repair ship for seaplanes at Ponta Delgada. Here,
Ruttan was designated by the Navy Department as the official artist of the
flight. His experience with painting naval aviation scenes on the Western Front secured him the
position. His paintings were compiled for the U.S. Navy Department historical
archives. They depicted scenes of bombing raids at Zeebrugge, Paris,
and other locations. In 1918, Ruttan was stationed at the U.S.
Coastal Air Station at Montauk,
New York. After the war, Ruttan illustrated a
series of paintings that depicted the first successful crossing of the Atlantic
by a flight of Navy Curtiss NC seaplanes.
In 1919,
Ruttan moved to Los Angeles where he worked in Hollywood as a painter and
artist.
![]() |
1917 Achetez le Timbre Antituberculeux colour lithograph 89 x 60 cm ( France ) |
![]() |
1917 All together! Enlist in the Navy by Henry Reuterdahl ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Although
he never had any formal training in art, the self-taught Reuterdahl
won a job as an illustrator-correspondent during the Spanish–American War. In the
years prior to WW1 he traveled extensively
with the Navy and became their official artist during the war, where
he was head of the poster bureau. At that time, he was considered
America's foremost naval artist. Reuterdahl was a member of the Society of
Illustrators and the American Watercolour Society. He exhibited his work in the
1913 Armory Show, although he was not considered a Modernist. He also taught at the Art Students League
of New York.
![]() |
1917 Allgemeine Wäschesammlung 1917 by Franz Griessier ( Austria ) colour lithograph 95 x 63 cm |
![]() |
1917 America Calls. Enlist in the Navy by Joseph Christian Leyendecker ( USA ) colour lithograph 104 x 71 cm |
Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874 – 1951) was one of the
pre-eminent American illustrators of the early 20th Century. He is best known
for his poster, book and advertising illustrations, the trade character known
as The Arrow Collar Man, and his numerous covers for The Saturday Evening Post.
Between 1896 and 1950 Leyendecker illustrated more than 400
magazine covers including 322 for The Saturday Evening Post, as well as many
advertisement illustrations for its interior pages. No other artist, until the
arrival of Norman Rockwell two decades later, was so solidly identified with
one publication.
![]() |
1917 America Gave You All You Have To Give Give It - She Needs It Now! by Frank Walter Taylor ( USA ) lithograph 102 x 72 cm |
Frank
Walter Taylor (1874-1921) was a major early twentieth century American
illustrator. Taylor first studied under his father, Frank H. Taylor, who had
been a Civil War artist and correspondent. He continued his studies in 1896 at
the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. While there, Frank Taylor was
awarded a traveling scholarship which enabled him to conclude his education in
Paris. He then returned to Philadelphia in 1898 and established a studio there.
During
the following twenty years, Frank Walter Taylor was a leading illustrator of
the American scene, and he regularly contributed his art to such national
publications as "Harper's Monthly" and "Collier's". He also
authored and illustrated a number of stories for leading periodicals. Frank
Walter Taylor was a full member of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and
the Society of Illustrators. He was awarded a Medal of Honour for Illustration
at the Panama Pacific International Exposition in 1915.
![]() |
1917 America's Tribute to Britain by Frederic G. Cooper ( USA ) colour woodcut 76 x 51 cm |
Frederic G. Cooper (born 1883) was a
well-known American graphic designer, poster artist, and illustrator. Cooper
was born in Oregon and was educated at the Mark Hopkins Art Institute in San
Francisco. He moved to New York City in 1904, where he worked as a freelance
artist creating designs for New York Edison, Westinghouse, and many other
companies. During World War I, he designed posters for the War Department and
the U.S. Food Administration. His war
posters won high praise for their use of all lower-case lettering whose warmth
and character obviated the need for additional illustration (not applicable to this particular poster).
![]() |
1917 Are YOU in this? by Robert Baden-Powell 1917 ( UK ) colour lithograph 76 x 50 cm |
Robert Baden-Powell (1857–1941) was a
Lieutenant-General in the British Army. He is best known for founding the Boy
Scouts when he learned that his military textbook Aids to Scouting was being
used for training boys in woodcraft. He then wrote Scouting for Boys and retired from the army in 1910 to devote his
time to the group. His sister, Agnes, helped to found the Girl Guides and
worked with Juliette Gordon Low to bring Girl Scouts to the United States.
Baden-Powell was also an illustrator and painter.
![]() |
1917 Are You Trained to do Your Share? Plattsburg ( USA ) colour lithograph 64 x 49 cm |
![]() |
1917 Back Him Up! Buy Victory Bonds ( Canada ) colour lithograph 92 x 61 cm |
![]() |
1917 Blood or Bread Others are giving their blood... by Henry Raleigh ( USA ) colour lithograph 73 x 53 cm |
Henry Patrick
Raleigh ( 1880–1944 ) started and ended life in poverty and despair. But in
between, he spent decades painting high society pictures and living the opulent
life of one of the highest paid illustrators in the country.
At age 17,
his knack for drawing landed him a job as a newspaper artist for the San Francisco Bulletin. Raleigh's
work soon attracted the attention of art directors and publishers who offered
him better assignments. He moved to New York where he gradually progressed from
newspapers to top magazines such as Vanity
Fair,Harper's Bazaar, Colliers and Saturday Evening Post.
Unfortunately,
over time styles changed (along with social values and taste in art) and his
work dried up. Raleigh could not adapt; bankrupt and bitter, he committed
suicide in 1944 by jumping out of the window of a sleazy hotel in Times Square.
![]() |
1917 Bonds - Which? by Oscar Edward Cesare ( USA ) colour lithograph 55 x 53 cm |
Oscar Edward Cesare (1883-1948) was a Swedish-born American caricaturist, painter,
draughtsman and editorial cartoonist. At eighteen he moved to Paris to study art, then travelled to
Buffalo, New York, to continue his studies. In 1903 he moved to Chicago, and by
1911 he was living in New York City. By 1913, his success as an illustrator
allowed him to exhibit at the legendary 1913 Armry Show. Cesare worked at
several publications throughout his career, including the Chicago Tribune, New
York World, New York Sun, New York Evening Post etc. In 1920, he became a
regular contributor to the Sunday magazine of the New York Times and continued
until a few years before his death in 1948.
In
October 1922 Cesare had the very rare privilege of gaining admittance to the
Kremlin in Moscow to paint
sketches of the Soviet leader Lenin. He was also able to make sketches of Leon
Trotsky on the same trip.
He
died in 1948 in Stamford, Connecticut.
![]() |
1917 Britishers - You're Needed Come Across Now by Lloyd Myers ( USA ) colour lithograph 104 x 71 cm |
Lloyd Burton Myers was born in Sterling, IL in 1892. Myers lived
in New York City and studied at the ASL there before moving to Los Angeles in
the mid-1930s. By 1938 he was a resident of San Francisco where he was the art
director of Bowman-Deute-Cummings Agency. He died in San Mateo, CA in 1955. He
was a member of the American Watercolur Society; Salmagundi Club; Society of
Illustrators (NYC).
![]() |
1917 Buy Liberty Bonds ( USA ) colour lithograph 104 x 69 cm |
![]() |
1917 Buy United States Government War Savings Stamps by William Balfour Ker ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 102 cm |
William Balfour Ker (1877-1918) was born in Dunville,
Ontario, Canada on July 25, 1877 of Scottish heritage. His mother, Lily
Florence Bell, was a first cousin of Alexander Graham Bell. The Ker family
immigrated to the U.S. in 1880. His early education and training are unknown.
As a young man, Ker was an an avowed Socialist, his art often reflecting his
political beliefs.
In the 1890's, he became a naturalized citizen and a student of the great illustrator Howard Pyle. He died in 1918 in New York.
In the 1890's, he became a naturalized citizen and a student of the great illustrator Howard Pyle. He died in 1918 in New York.
![]() |
1917 Come On - Join Now 15,000,000 Members by Christmas by Richard Fayerweather Babcock ( USA ) colour lithograph 92 x 60 cm |
Richard Fayerweather Babcock (1887-1954) was born in
Denmark on June 4, 1887. Babcock studied at the Art Students League
in NYC, Art Institute of Chicago, and in Munich. He lived in Pittsburgh,
PA during 1922-26 and Evanston, IL in 1947. His illustrations appeared in
Encyclopaedia Brittanica. While in California, he painted a mural in the
U.S. Grant Hotel in San Diego. During his last years he taught at the Chicago
Academy of Fine Arts. He died in 1954.
![]() |
1917 Come On, Boys! Do Your Duty by Enlisting Now! by Vojtěch Preissig ( USA ) colour silkscreen 88 x 63.4 cm |
Vojtëch Preissig ( 1873 – 1944 ) was a Czech typographer,
printmaker, designer, illustrator, painter and teacher. He studied in Prague at
the School of Applied Industrial Art (in Friedrich
Ohmann's Decorative Architecture workshop) from
1892 to 1896 and at the School of Decorative Architecture from 1897 to 1898. In
1897 he moved to Paris and worked for two years with the Czech artist Alphonse Mucha. He moved to the USA in in
1910 and taught in various art institutions.
During
his time with the Wentworth Institute he designed recruitment posters for the
United States armed forces of WW1 which were principally aimed at Czech
immigrants.
![]() |
1917 Defeat the Kaiser and His U-boats ( USA ) colour lithograph 54 x 36 cm |