^^^^g ^M ^^^^^^^^^^^Mi ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^m^^i^^'^T- D570 .85 .N5N3 '^H^l^i^^l ■ m ■ : » 1 ^ ' o « o y ..-•. '-*< "^ G^ \ ^^"^ ..'^ \ COMMITTEE ON ARTS AND DECORATION Tfie Mayor's Committee on National Defence HALL OF RECORDS NEW YORK [ October, 1918 ] COMMITTEE b^ ARTS AND DECORATION This committee was organized for the purpose of developing the field of art in connection with the war, where the services of artists, architects, sculptors and those practising the allied arts are employed. A Bureau of Information has heen established to advise and direct those seeking to apply their talents to work connected with the war. No group of men in the country has arisen to the occasion in a finer spirit and none have rendered a more notable service to the country. Here may be obtained accurate and official information con- cerning the designing of pictorial placards for government purposes, cartoons, landscape targets, pictorial records of America's war activities, military and naval camouflage, deco- rations for Liberty Loan and other purposes, as well as where sculptors and architects are needed. A leaflet containing suggestions and informa- tion has been prepared, for gratuitous distribution. A Division of Exhibitions has been formed to further the cause of picto- rial propaganda. The British govern- ment is fully alive to the value of such exhibitions and has sent two exhibi- tions to this country, one of litho- graphs and one of paintings, besides many photographs. The lithographs have thrice been shown under the aus- '1^ pices of this conimittee. An exhibition designed to make known the extent of our war preparations, miHtary, naval and industrious, is now in active prep- aration and will be sho^vn in many parts of the country. This exhibition will also minister to the morale of our people and that of our allies; it will, in addition, since the standard of ar- tistic excellence will be high, do its part in raising the standard of art aj)- 23reciation in this country. Another exhibition planned is of French and British war posters and other litho- graphs; another is an Allied War Salon. A collection of 125 colored facsimiles of cartoons by Racmaekers is now being shown in the various cantonments. In arranging these ex- hibitions the Committee will coope- rate with the Division of Pictorial Publicity of the Committee on Public Information, as well as with the Amer- ican Federation of Arts. Mr. C. D. Gibson is chairman of the Division of Pictorial Publicity and Mr. A. E. Gallatin is chairman of their com- mittee on exhibitions. Mr. Duncan Phillips is on the committee on exhi- bitions of the American Federation of Arts. Messrs. Gibson, Gallatin and Phillips are all members of the committee on Ai'ts and Decoration. The Committee on Arts and Deco- ration assisted in the artistic censor- ing of the historic floats, banners and costumes appearing in the great In- dependence Day Pageant-Parade held in New York in 1918. The Advisory Art Committee of the Liberty Loan Committee has asked for the closest cooperation between the tAvo commit- tees. These are but two examples of the wide and useful scope of this com- mittee in coordinating art work in so far as it affects the community. COMMITTEE ON ARTS AND DECORATION Albert Eugene Gallatin, Chairman Lloyd Warren, Vice-Chairman BUREAU OF INFORMATION Edward P. Gaston, Secretary DIVISION OF EXHIBITIONS Duncan Phillips Augustus V. Tack EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Herbert Adams Charles Dana Gibson Paul W. Bartlett Thomas Hastings Nicholas Murray Butler Archer M. Huntington Robert W. de Forest Clarence H. Mackav GENERAL COMMITTEE Robert Abbe Ernest Iselin John Quincy Adams Arthur Curtiss James Charles B. Alexander Roland F. Knoedler S. Reading Bertron George F. Kunz Bryson Burroughs Ernest Lawson F. D. Casey Hermon A. MacNeil William A. Clark H. Van Buren Magonigle Robert W. Chanler Paul Manship Francis W. Crowninshield Howard Mansfield R. Fulton Cutting W. H. de B. Nelson Guy Pene du Bois William Jay Schieifelin Charles M. Gay Arthur H, Scribner William J. Glackens Henry Renwick Sedgwick Jules Guerin John Sloane Childe Hassam Charles H. Sherrill William Warner Hoppin Joseph E. Stevens Suggestions and information for Artists, Architects, Sculptors, and those practicing the Allied Arts desiring to apply their knowledge to War Work Prepared by A. E. Gallatin, Chairman, Committee on Arts and Decoration of The Mayor's Committee on National Defense, Hall of Records, New York [ September, 1918 ] Artists 1. Posters Painters and illustrators wishing to design posters and other pictorial placards to be used by the Government for patriotic purposes should apply to the Division of Pictorial Publicity of the Committee on Public In- formation, at 200 Fifth Avenue, New York. Charles Dana Gibson is chairman and F. D. Casey is vice chairman and secretary. Drawings and paintings, which must be offered gratuitously, are required for Liberty Loan and War Savings Stamps drives, to urge conservation of food and coal, to speed up shipbuild- ing, for recruiting, and various Red Cross purposes. Poster artists may also apply to the Art War Relief, 661 Fifth Avenue, New York. Artists and illustrators possessing a knowledge of naval matters should apply to the U. S. Navy Publicity Bureau, at 318 West 39t'h Street, New York. 2. Cartoons Never before has the poster artist enjoyed such a golden opportunity ; this is also true of the cartoonist. It has been said of Raemaekers that "He more than any other individual, has made intensely clear to the people the single issue upon which the war is joined. More than cartoonist, he is teacher and preacher, with a vision, faith, and intensity of a St. Francis, a Luther, or a Joan of Arc. . . . The pencil in his hands be- comes an avenging sword, because by it millions of people have been aroused to a clear cut realization of the fact that the issue of this war is no less than Slavery and Autocracy versus Freedom and Democ- racy. . . . No oration, no literature, no art, has brought the real meaning of the war home so convinc- ingly as these cartoons." 3. Designation Targets Designation, or landscape, targets are used for class room instruction. They should depict typical French rural scenery and should be painted in clear and bright colors. The sizes vary from 3 by 6 feet to 5 by 12 feet. These landscapes are used to visualize the country, for panoramic sketching, for working out problems of of- fense and defense, for target designation according to the clock face method in machine gun, artillery and rifle practice, and for other purposes. Further infor- mation may be obtained from Mrs. H. Van Buren Magonigle, Chairman of Painters' Committee, Art War Relief, 661 Fifth Avenue, New York. 4. Record of America's Activities Many illustrators and painters have been making pic- torial records of America's military, naval and in- dustrial activities. These are shown throughout the country, as well as being reproduced in the press, and serve, as only pictorial publicity and propaganda can, to acquaint our people and those of our allies with the extent and magnitude of our preparations, thus strengthening their morale. Eight illustrators, commis- sioned captains in the Engineers' Reserve Corps of the army, are now in France depicting our activities ; their drawings should form a very valuable historical record. Architects Architects desiring to engage in Government work should apply to Otto Eidlitz, Director of Bureau of Industrial Housing and Transportation, Department of Labor, Washington. Sculptors Many sculptors have entered the Camouflage unit (40th Engineers). Others are designing memorials, medals which are sold for the benefit of the Red Cross and other charities, and Congressional Medals. The services of sculptors have not as yet been required by the Medical Corps in this country; it is understood that later on they probably will be. At a later date application should be made to the Surgeon General, War Department, Washington. In England many sculptors are co-operating with surgeons in facial surgery. Military Camouflage The Camouflage unit forms a part of the Corps of Engineers of the National Army. It is a military organization composed of artists, architects, sculptors, scene painters, sign painters, house painters, carpen- ters, ornamental iron workers, tinsmiths, plasterers, photographers, stage carpenters and property men. The work in general deals with the concealment of gun emplacements, trenches and sheds of military value; tlie screening of roads and the manufacture of mate- rials for this purpose; the painting of roofs and large areas of canvas for the covering of ammunition stor- age and the like; the making of various devices and clothing for the concealment of observers and sniper and occasionally the painting of a scenic drop. It not contemplated that there will be any expansion • this service in this country. It is suggested that app] cants enlist as it is possible that they may find oppo tunity in any branch of the service to make use o their qualifications ; then subsequent to being sen abroad, request transfer to the 40th Engineers (Cam ouflage). This corps is under the supervision of th( Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army, Washington. Ther( will be a course in camouflage at Columbia University beginning September 30th. Marine Camoujiage Marine camouflage is done under the direction o the Navy Department. The work is executed by tlw United States Shijsping Board Emergenc\^ Fleet Cor poration's department of camouflage. In each distric is stationed a district camoufleur, with a corps o: trained men. A school has been established by th( Shipping Board for men who have already been ap pointed as camoufleurs. The quota is complete anc there is a waiting list of over a thousand applicants Another school has been established at the Great Lake; Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Illinois. "Baffle painting" has taken the place of attempts to rendei vessels invisible. This distorts the outlines of the shij and misleads the submarine as to the craft's size, char acter, and her course. Decorations The services of artists, sculptors and architects, a well as those engaged in the allied arts, are in coi stant demand by committees appointed to arrange fo special decorations. H. Van Buren Magonigle is chair- man of an advistory art commission chosen by the Publicity Department of the I-iberty Loan Committei for New York to arrange for decorations on Fiftl Avenue and Broadway. Associated with him an Herbert Adams, Paul Bartlett, Edwin H. Blashfiek and Charles Dana Gibson. The hundred or more floats and other decorative effects, used in the last Inde- pendence Day Pageant-Parade in New York called into service the special knowledge possessed by al' professions practicing the arts and crafts. Specia decorations are frequently employed in New York o the occasion of visits from foreign missions; the erected in honor of Viviani, Joffre and Balfour w very handsome. P "5 7 y U ,^ ^"^ »i:.>L% ^^. 1- ^-^ '^ ^^-n^.