Speaking of Heroes: Portraits of the Men of the A.E.F. from Generals to Privates in Both World Wars and Korea; War Portraits in the Smithsonian Institution painted by Joseph Cummings Chase Official Portrait Painter with the A.E.F.
Milwaukee: Privately Printed, 1972. Hardcover. Octavo. Linen covered boards. Illustrated dust jacket. pp. 173. Illustrated throughout with 195 b/w reproductions of oil portraits, along with text about the sitters.
Joseph Cummings Chase was hired by the War Department to paint portraits of officers and enlisted men who performed extraordinary feats of heroism in World Wars I, II and the Korean conflict. Early in 1918 General Pershing cabled a request for a portrait painter to compliment the work of historians who were already at their task. The Art Committee for the War selected Joe Chase to be the official portrait painter for the American Expeditionary Forces overseas. His sitters were selected as heroes by their Division commanders. All of the World War I portraits were painted from life, in the field. The portraits from World War II were painted from life, with the exception of six generals (five had perished and one was not expected to return). The WWII and Korean conflict portraits were made in Chase's New York City studio since there were no fixed fronts in Europe or the Pacific. A more complete account of the experience can be found in Chase's autobiography, Face Value.
Includes General Pershing, Marshall Foch, Lt. Generals Liggett and Bullard, Sergeant Alvin C. York, Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur (twice: as Brigadier General and later as General of the Army), Major General John A. Lejeune, George Marshall, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George Patton, Jr., General Mark Clark and Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (Chase had painted President Roosevelt long before; it is one of his most famous portraits. In WWI, the son, then a Colonel had watched a portrait session of General McGlachin. Three days later at G.H.Q. came word of the death of President Roosevelt, which Chase conveyed to the son by telephone).
Dust jacket indicates original price of 10 dollars. As new / as new. Item #45917
Chase (1878-1965) painted portraits of six presidents, foreign and U.S. ambassadors, congressmen, judges, university presidents, bankers, industrialists and was well known for his military portraits and portraits of stage actors. His illustrations can be found in all the magazines of the day. He taught at the City College of New York, Cooper Union Woman's Art School and Hunter College. He was a member of the National Arts Club (where he lived after moving from his 27-year studio in the old Chelsea Hotel), The Dutch Treat Club (he sang basso in their quartet), and was "drafted" into membership in The Players Club. The Smithsonian Institution owns 199 of his military oil paintings. He is the author of many books, including The Artist Talks About Color and an autobiography Face Value. [Note: the dust jacket incorrectly mentions his birth date; in fact he was born May 5th].
Price: $45.00