"Howard Chandler Christy: American Illustrator" September 17, 2007

His brush swept quickly across the scrap of paper, held steady as the circumstances would allow – confident strokes, and then he pressed firmly against the page to blot stray drops of sea water among the daubs of color. In the distance, the smell of gunpowder, and the sound of rifles; on a scrap of paper, Howard Chandler Christy formed an image of the scene for millions of Americans who would never see the war on these distant shores.

From an early career as an embedded combat artist in the Spanish-American War to his celebrated years as one of America’s most eloquent voices of patriotic art, Christy produced more than five decades of work that shaped popular culture. “Howard Chandler Christy: American Illustrator”, a new exhibition of watercolors, prints, and pencil sketches, will be on display at the Pritzker Military Library from September 18 to December 14, 2007. This exhibition will be free and open to the public during normal Library hours, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and also during scheduled evening events.

The exhibition features seventeen images, both on the walls of the gallery and in a special multimedia presentation, that show Christy’s evolution as an artist from quick, evocative sketches of combat scenes to detailed studies of message and the feminine form.

Howard Chandler Christy (1873-1952) began his professional career as an illustrator for several major New York magazines. A serial on the Revolutionary War for Scribner’s earned him a job as an embedded combat artist with the 2nd Infantry in Cuba during the Spanish American War. Watercolors like North Coast of Cuba, June 17, 1898 brought light to the conflict for eager readers of Leslie’s Weekly, Harper’s, Century, and more. His most striking work came as an eye-witness when the 2nd Infantry relieved Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders during the taking of San Juan Hill.

After the war, Christy was one of the most popular artists in the nation, and his beautiful “Christy Girl” became an American icon; she could be found in recruiting posters like Gee I Wish I Were a Man (I’d Join the Navy), in color plates for best-selling books of poetry, and even styled in gauze as his model for “Miss Liberty.” The tremendously versatile Christy was also a teacher, writer, and portrait painter for several presidents and celebrities, but when his nation called, he was always ready to answer. By the end of World War I, he had been credited with 40 widely-circulated posters for the war effort, and he continued his commitment through World War II. His delightful murals – of Christy girls, naturally – still decorate the walls of the Café des Artistes, one of New York’s most famous restaurants.

To request high-resolution images for press purposes, please contact Mark Heiden at 312-587-0234 or mheiden@pritzkermilitarylibrary.net.

Official Website: http://www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org/events