tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71694973503710787862024-03-13T04:16:32.104-07:00The Art of William A. SmithCelebrating the life and art of a great American painter, William Arthur Smith (1918 - 1989)leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-29220346927605663952010-05-30T08:43:00.000-07:002010-05-30T09:08:56.576-07:00Announcing...Dominican University of California will host an exhibition of drawings and memorabilia by William A. Smith, curated by his daughter, Kim Smith, and produced during his time as an OSS operative in WWII China.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4652627643_fc06dd8124_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 601px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4652627643_fc06dd8124_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The exhibition, free to the public, includes a few of Smith's propaganda illustrations which were created to demoralize Japanese soldiers, but most of the show is devoted to the beautiful, sympathetic drawings and paintings of the people and places he encountered during his tour of duty.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/4653247306_3744fa6a42_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 596px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/4653247306_3744fa6a42_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The exhibition, held in cooperation with the School of Natural Health and Sciences, will be on display in the Science Building at Dominican University, 50 Acacia Avenue, in San Rafael. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., from June 7 to December 18, 2010.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-54463926614899666952009-09-15T11:10:00.000-07:002009-09-15T16:33:09.520-07:00William A. Smith: Condensed in '62On a previous occasion when we were looking at some Sickles art from Reader's Digest Condensed Books, I received a note from Ferol Smith, the wife of the late William A. Smith. Ferol wrote, <span style="font-style:italic;">"One of these days I'm going to find other Reader's Digest Condensed Books illustrators; W.A.S. natch!! It was a great medium for some fine work by these artists."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2463/3922899437_572abf4dfd_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 274px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2463/3922899437_572abf4dfd_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />So I was especially pleased when I stumbled across this particular volume... because W.A.S. did a remarkable <span style="font-weight:bold;">twelve paintings</span> for one of the stories therein.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3509/3922899541_e36c469aef_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 274px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3509/3922899541_e36c469aef_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I sent a note last night asking the members of the Smith family if they had any recollections of this job... for instance, how much time would the artists have had to paint all these gorgeous illustrations?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3923686398_8ff10b10e6_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3923686398_8ff10b10e6_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Eldest daughter, Kim, replied that she recalled her dad having about a month to complete the assignment - wow! - that's a lot of work to get done in just one month!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2641/3923686496_187a3eab54_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 542px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2641/3923686496_187a3eab54_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Especially when you consider the technical details and period costume Smith had to research and then render accurately.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2491/3922900019_fd4fb437d4_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 274px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2491/3922900019_fd4fb437d4_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Kim remembers her mom posing for the scene two above ( page 137 ) and adds, <span style="font-style:italic;">"I think it was also Dad in that painting."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">* Addendum:</span> A late note from Ferol Smith: <span style="font-style:italic;">"I'm 91,95,96, and 99. The tough looking old lady was a neighbor of ours and of the most kindly nature. She enjoyed a job with the local vet and worked with children during summer camp. Not so tough!"</span><br /><br />As for the piece below, Kim writes, <span style="font-style:italic;">"It was</span> [Kim's older brother] <span style="font-style:italic;">Rick and me."</span><br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2494/3922900121_86aed164ca_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 550px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2494/3922900121_86aed164ca_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />She adds, <span style="font-style:italic;">"Rick looks exactly like himself, though I look a little more like Alice in that painting."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/3923686776_f5422419c4_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 565px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/3923686776_f5422419c4_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />To be honest, the poor paper quality and small reproduction size can't possibly do justice to William A. Smith's paintings. They look this good <span style="font-style:italic;">in spite</span> of the RDCB's shortcomings.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2422/3922900311_d3bccdc2a2_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 539px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2422/3922900311_d3bccdc2a2_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />When I look at these I am reminded of the first time I laid eyes on a W.A.S. illustration -- and mistook it for <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1598533/">Robert Fawcett</a>'s work. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/3922900451_886b1d6f34_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 569px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/3922900451_886b1d6f34_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />And that in turn always makes me think of a great anecdote Charlie Allen recounted of the time he had dinner with Robert Fawcett and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1740403/">Haines Hall</a>, who was Fawcett's brother in law and a partner in the SF art studio at which young Charlie Allen was working.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/3922900607_84ec464770_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 554px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/3922900607_84ec464770_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />During a lull in the conversation at the table, Charlie, still very much a junior illustrator - and somewhat in awe of being in the presence of 'the illustrator's illustrator' nervously asked Fawcett if he knew the painter William A. Smith...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2618/3922900747_25a9b17987_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2618/3922900747_25a9b17987_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Charlie writes, "[Fawcett] did a double take, turned to Haines, and gesturing to me, said, 'who's this?' I think his actual words were 'who the hell is this?' Haines explained (I was the favored new kid on the block)."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/3922900959_c8d7c32eee_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 556px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/3922900959_c8d7c32eee_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Charlie continues, <span style="font-style:italic;">"RF reluctantly turned and said, 'yes, Bill is a good friend....and he's a fine painter'. He did not say 'illustrator'. That was the only conversation from him for the evening, with me at least. At the time I naturally was in awe of RF, but was also an admirer of Wm. A. Smith."</span><br /><br />And <span style="font-style:italic;">we</span> are in awe of Charlie Allen, who once again demonstrates the extent of his skills with another broad range of samples from his many years of service as a West Coast advertising artist. Go to <a href="http://charlieallensblog.blogspot.com/">Charlie Allen's Blog</a> and check 'em out!<br /><br />* My <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1604960/">William A. Smith Flickr set</a>.<br /><br />* This post has been simultaneously published on <a href="http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2009/09/william-smith-condensed-in-62.html">Today's Inspiration</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-7171697223323430422009-07-24T10:23:00.000-07:002009-07-24T10:32:59.827-07:00William A. Smith's Coke AdsYou may recall seeing the Coke ad below in <a href="http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2008/03/william-smith-fine-painter-robert.html">a previous post on William A. Smith</a>, but that ad wasn't a one-shot job for the accomplished painter...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3034/2377320682_d7dc76f005_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 348px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3034/2377320682_d7dc76f005_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Smith's daughter, Kim, sent a scan of this great piece below, along with an amusing anecdote about what must surely have been one of her earliest professional modeling assignments:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"I was the model,"</span> wrote Kim, <span style="font-style:italic;">"along with my favorite stuffed animal (I still have it, and it is probably a poodle) whom I nevertheless called Lambsey-Dysey. After "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambsey dysey".</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3527/3752696666_e8b0b71918_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 517px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3527/3752696666_e8b0b71918_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"The third model was a man on whom I had a huge crush, very handsome, named Bob I-can't-remember-his-last-name-but-will. He played a doctor, and I am about 3 1/2 years old. The version of the ad I have is in Spanish, though it was also probably in English somewhere here. My hair color, and Lambsey-Dysey's was changed for the painting to brunette!"</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/3752696804_69cbd32abd_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 395px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/3752696804_69cbd32abd_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Recently a <span style="font-style:italic;">third</span> William A. Smith Coke ad surfaced... this time in the form of a piece of original art up for sale at <a href="http://fineart.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=7010&Lot_No=88124&src=pr#PHOTO">Heritage Auctions</a>.<br /><br />I sent a note around to the Smith family members alerting them to the sale. Kathlin Smith was the first to reply. She identified her older brother Rick as having posed for the role of the usher standing at far-right of frame in the middle distance. <span style="font-style:italic;">"It’s actually amazing how much he looks like a young version of my father,"</span> wrote Kathlin.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3481/3752696744_65b38f0aaa_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 398px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3481/3752696744_65b38f0aaa_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />When I asked Rick Smith if he recalled anything about posing for this ad he replied, <span style="font-style:italic;">"It's me alright but I was an ADHD kid, hated keeping still for any length of time so I may have repressed that particular adventure."</span><br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2530/3751904273_b00ed02c61_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 395px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2530/3751904273_b00ed02c61_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Rick adds, <span style="font-style:italic;">"Thanks for your interest in dad's work. I still think he was vastly underrated/underappreciated/under-recognized."</span><br /><br />* Thanks to <a href="http://charlieallensblog.blogspot.com/">Charlie Allen</a> for providing the top scan, Kim Smith for providing the middle scan, and <a href="http://fineart.ha.com/illustrationart/?ic=task-art-illustrationart">Heritage Auctions</a> for allowing me to use the bottom scan.<br /><br />* My <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1604960/">William A. Smith Flickr set</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-7561577149131619872009-04-04T06:53:00.001-07:002009-04-06T06:47:05.724-07:00Norman Kent Offers 'True' Praise for William A. Smith"Some illustrators, although not necessarily pigeon-holed, are in demand for certain types of stories because of their special interests or experiences," writes Norman Kent in the September 1954 issue of <span style="font-style:italic;">American Artist</span>.<br /><br />"William A. Smith, for example -- Bill was with the O.S.S. in China for many months during W.W.II"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3635/3409183707_ea8955ec09_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3635/3409183707_ea8955ec09_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />"While off duty he made hundreds of drawings of the Chinese people, their cities, towns, their countryside."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3546/3410039396_60d0662a10_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3546/3410039396_60d0662a10_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />"He even learned to speak their language and he counts many Orientals, both here and abroad, his personal friends. He has made himself a natural for Oriental stories."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3582/3409183831_ec9af69236_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 353px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3582/3409183831_ec9af69236_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />But this does not narrow his capabilities or his attractiveness as an illustrator for any kind of a story because his interests are universal and his experiences have been most varied. Several years ago Bill took himself off to Paris with his wife and children where he lived for two years. He devoted himself to easel painting both in oil and watercolor and out of this investment in study and independent work have come many prizes and honors."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3660/3409183627_7b8a2b12b9_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 305px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3660/3409183627_7b8a2b12b9_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />"Part of the collection he brought home formed the basis for a large one-man show at the Toledo Museum of Art. Other pictures have won important prizes in national shows. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3654/3409991986_9a3e54b156_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 392px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3654/3409991986_9a3e54b156_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />When in 1952 he was elected to the Academican's rank of the National Academy he was one of the youngest painters ever to have achieved this distinction."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3341/3409992296_e6597af2a7_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 538px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3341/3409992296_e6597af2a7_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />"His most recent honor has an honorary Master of Arts Degree bestowed by the University of Toledo at its 1954 commencement."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3298/3409992158_6d5563ec4e_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 325px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3298/3409992158_6d5563ec4e_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />"I cite Bill Smith's experiences at some length merely to point out the fact that the really accomplished artist has a rich and varied background to account for his continuing success as an illustrator."<br /><br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3567/3409992078_f21d56639d_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 346px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3567/3409992078_f21d56639d_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-56612907923842409202009-04-03T06:56:00.000-07:002009-04-04T06:52:31.755-07:00How to read this blogThis blog was created so that the story of William A. Smith's career could be found all in one place. Below is the material previously published on the <a href="http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/">Today's Inspiration</a> blog. To read these posts chronologically, begin with the post immediately below this one and scroll down. When you reach the bottom of the page, continue by clicking "Older Posts". <span style="font-weight:bold;">New posts</span> will be added intermittently and should be read starting with the next post <span style="font-style:italic;">above</span> this one and scrolling upward.<br /><br />The most recent post will always be the one immediately below the header.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-87825597440087808742009-04-03T04:38:00.001-07:002009-04-04T06:42:07.045-07:00William A. Smith: "A fine painter" - Robert FawcettAbout the only thing I like better than sharing examples from my collection of mid-20th century illustrators with you is when you return the favour. That's why I was so pleased when <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen</a>, <a href="http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2007/09/charlie-could-do-it-all.html">whose career we learned about last September</a>, began emailing me pieces by illustrators he admired and had clipped for his own reference and inspiration back in the day. Like these three beauties by William A. Smith. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3137/2377320918_809d462e71.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3137/2377320918_809d462e71.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Some of Smith's illustrations (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/74790353/in/set-1604960/">the few I'd seen</a>) reminded me a little of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1598533/">Robert Fawcett's work</a>. So I particularly enjoyed this anecdote Charlie related to me about meeting Robert Fawcett:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"May have told you this, but about 1950 or '51 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1740403/">Haines Hall</a> and <a href="http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2007/08/chet-patterson-joins-p.html">Chet Patterson</a> asked me to join them for dinner one evening at one of those old but posh SF eateries. The lure, RF would be joining us. Believe <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72057594067151549/">Stan Galli</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157600047514036/">Bruce Bomberger</a> were there too. With no warning, they sat me next to RF (Haines' brother-in-law). In a lull, I ventured a question to the great one....'Do you know William A. Smith?' He did a double take, turned to Haines, and gesturing to me, said, 'who's this?' I think his actual words were 'who the hell is this?' Haines explained ( I was the favored new kid on the block), and RF reluctantly turned and said, 'yes, Bill is a good friend....and he's a fine painter'. He did not say 'illustrator'. That was the only conversation from him for the evening, with me at least. At the time I naturally was in awe of RF, but was also an admirer of Wm. A. Smith."</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3034/2377320682_55fd0c7c80.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3034/2377320682_55fd0c7c80.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />About these images, Charlie wrote: <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Smith had a heavy painterly hand....but could be oh-so subtle when the character or scene needed it. I could tell he had to 'behave himself' on the Coca Cola ad</span> [above] <span style="font-style:italic;">...had to hold back some of that 'horsepower' he possessed. He was not as inventive in style and technique as, say, Briggs, Parker, Fawcett, etc.....but he was rock solid on dramatic presentation."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2163/2376483481_a60b3cbbcf.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2163/2376483481_a60b3cbbcf.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Charlie went on to say, <span style="font-style:italic;">"He seemed a mystery....never heard much about him or his career, etc."</span> - which I was unable to help with, since what I knew about the artist was no more than what was available in the short bio you can find in Walt Reed's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Illustrator-America-1860-2000-Walt-Reed/dp/0823025233?tag=dogpile-20">"Illustrator in America"</a>.<br /><br />Then, in one of those coincidences that make me think "there are no coincidences", a package arrived in the mail: a recent acquisition from ebay... two bound volumes of <span style="font-style:italic;">American Artist</span> magazine, 1952 and 1953. And what should the June 1952 issue contain but a six-page article on William A. Smith!<br /><br />That same issue contained this ad below, so now you know what the artist looked like around the time he painted these pieces.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/2376483285_8059b95564_b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 370px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/2376483285_8059b95564_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />With the generous assistance of Charlie Allen, who has provided virtually all the scans I'll be presenting, and with the benefit of the information in the <span style="font-style:italic;">American Artist</span> article, it looks like we will get to spend this week learning about "a fine painter", William A. Smith.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-91902679232226650892009-04-03T04:36:00.002-07:002009-04-03T04:37:47.378-07:00William A. Smith: "A relentless regimen of drawing...""I was put through my paces in the old fashioned style." That's how William A. Smith described his early formal art education, which began at age 12.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?searchtype=BIO&artist=67713">Theodore J. Keane</a>, who had once been the dean at the Chicago Art Institute School, was the young Bill Smith's first art teacher and mentor back in Toledo, Ohio, where Smith was born.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2226/2380176198_e1dae39e6d.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2226/2380176198_e1dae39e6d.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />"That teenage study was not of the glamorous sort," says the article on Smith in the June 1952 issue of <span style="font-style:italic;">American Artist</span>. "At least it would not have been except for the magic of Keane's inspiring influence."<br /><br />"Indeed it was a relentless regimen of drawing from casts and still lifes for two full years before a living model was thought of."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2317/2380175988_0bd434f776.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2317/2380175988_0bd434f776.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />"But in those years," continues author Ernest W. Watson, "Bill really learned to draw and he learned a lot about those intangibles which activate the more subtle facets of his dramatic career."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2027/2379339885_ed74514697.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2027/2379339885_ed74514697.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />My <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1604960/">William A. Smith Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-44087061675431394322009-04-03T04:36:00.001-07:002009-04-03T04:36:50.007-07:00Step by Step with Bill SmithFrom the June 1952 issue of <span style="font-style:italic;">American Artist</span> magazine:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/2382017623_4fd006102e.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/2382017623_4fd006102e.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2373/2382850318_ac449f6ab9.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2373/2382850318_ac449f6ab9.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2038/2382849884_93d1818865.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2038/2382849884_93d1818865.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/2382850182_82e741245b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/2382850182_82e741245b.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/2382849988_e8e1d5b211.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/2382849988_e8e1d5b211.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2116/2382017039_9a5170a617.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2116/2382017039_9a5170a617.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3255/2382016901_9ebbc90b0c.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3255/2382016901_9ebbc90b0c.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />My <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1604960/">William A. Smith Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-68603486594189843952009-04-03T04:35:00.000-07:002009-04-04T06:46:54.119-07:00William A. Smith: Dissipating Popular PresumtionsConsidering the recent discussions we've had here about fine art vs. illustration, first with our look at <a href="http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2008/02/incursion-of-avant-garde-robert-weaver.html">Robert Weaver and the Avant-garde movement</a>, and more recently with <a href="http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2008/03/daniel-schwartz-fine-artistillustrator.html">Tom Watson's analysis of the work of Daniel Schwartz</a>, I had to smile when I read the following passage from the June 1952 issue of <span style="font-style:italic;">American Artist</span>:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"The one-time popular presumption that the practice of illustration somehow disqualified an artist as a so-called fine arts painter seems by now to have been quite thoroughly dissipated."<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2415/2384354701_021490409d.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2415/2384354701_021490409d.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />William A. Smith is held up as proof positive of this contention. Smith, the article proclaims, "was an exhibiting painter before he got his first important illustration commission."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2048/2384354165_014728be7d.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2048/2384354165_014728be7d.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I dunno, perhaps this debate will rage on for all time... so long as there are people who consider the artwork hanging on a gallery wall to be somehow more worthy than the artwork printed on the pages of a magazine. To my way of thinking quality is quality, and because the artwork has a utilitarian purpose (interpreting genre fiction, for instance) that doesn't reduce my appreciation for it as 'art' or disqualify the illustrator as an artist.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2048/2385185676_d20cdda7a4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2048/2385185676_d20cdda7a4.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />William A. Smith left Toledo at age 19 to establish himself in New York as a freelance artist. During his career he won numerous awards from both the commercial and fine arts communities. What's most telling about the nature of the artist is how he describes approaching his subject:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"When a subject... suggests a feeling that is provocative to me, I make very rapid pencil notes of it in a sketchbook. I study the sketch for a day or two, analyzing my reaction to the subject and doodling variations on the arrangement in an effort to eliminate factors that are extraneous and to develop those aspects that enhance the mood I wish to express."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2302/2384354267_b97d18a580_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2302/2384354267_b97d18a580_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Smith says he takes pains to avoid <span style="font-style:italic;">"too much copying of details. I juggle elements, eliminating some, exaggerating others and inventing new ones."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2389/2385185746_6e39dd2c01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2389/2385185746_6e39dd2c01.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />"A picture," says Smith, "should be a new entity rather than a replica of a bit of nature."<br /><br />Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... <span style="font-style:italic;">art!</span><br /><br />My <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1604960/">William A. Smith Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-60821688724963767422009-04-03T04:34:00.002-07:002009-04-03T04:35:21.488-07:00William A. Smith: "Never heard of him"I began this week's look at the work of William A. Smith by telling you that I knew very little about the artist and that <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen</a>, who provided most of this week's scans, had written to me that "[Smith] seemed a mystery....never heard much about him or his career, etc."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2062/2388893853_56f0294618.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2062/2388893853_56f0294618.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Well here's just a little about William A. Smith:<br /><br />He was President of the American Watercolor Society and President of the American delegation to the International Association of Art. His work won a variety of awards including the Winslow Homer Memorial Prize, the Postal Commemorative Society Prize and the American Watercolor Society's Grand Prize, Gold (twice), Silver, Bronze and Stuart prizes. Below is the piece for which Smith won the Society of Illustrator's Gold Medal for Advertising Illustration in 1959.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3103/2388893615_2df622c864.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3103/2388893615_2df622c864.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Smith taught at the Grand Central Art School and at the Pratt Institute. He lectured at the Academy of Fine Arts in Athens in 1954; Manila, 1955; Warsaw, 1958. He was one of the first artists sent to Russia under the Cultural Exchange Agreement in 1958.<br /><br />At the age of 13, he began to exhibit his work in serious competitions. The following year he was employed as a sketch artist by the Scripps-Howard Newspapers to cover the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics - can you image? <span style="font-style:italic;">a 14-year-old boy!</span> - and later he worked for the San Francisco Examiner sketching murder trials. The same year, Smith was accepted as the youngest member of the National Academy of Design.<br /><br />All this week, both here and and on Flickr, I've seen the same comments again and again: <span style="font-style:italic;">"This guy's work is amazing!"</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">"I'd never heard of him before..."</span><br /><br />What is wrong with this profession that illustrators of Smith's calibre and accomplishments could have fallen into such obscurity after such a relatively short time? Go to any library and you'll find entire sections devoted to art and art history... but the books that document the history of illustration wouldn't fill one shelf.<br /><br />I never learned about the great illustrators when I was in art college... perhaps things have changed... I hope so.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/2388893745_42f5e06287_b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/2388893745_42f5e06287_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Yesterday, thanks to TI list member <a href="http://bentonjewart.blogspot.com/">Benton Jew</a>, I was contacted by William A. Smith's daughter, Kim. She wrote, <span style="font-style:italic;">"The bar scene (Leon and Eddies in NY) at the top of the April 1 blog is on the wall above me as we speak. I have three painting of my Dad's here on the wall, and they are so greatly appreciated. I have forwarded the blog to my Mother and encouraged her to write to you about all of this. We can provide you with quite a bit of info. Thanks so very much. The whole family is excited."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2290/2389724646_47a3322c1a.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2290/2389724646_47a3322c1a.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I know I can speak for a great many people when I say we're excited too, Kim, that we'll now be able to learn a little more about your father - and help to celebrate his accomplishments and to keep his memory alive.<br /><br />My <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1604960/">William A. Smith Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-6226615226244663622009-04-03T04:34:00.001-07:002009-04-03T04:34:28.618-07:00People Send Me Stuff: Part 2One of the happy results of my recent posts on William A. Smith was hearing from Kim Smith, the artist's daughter. Kim very kindly sent me a catalogue from a 1996 show of her dad's work at the James A. Michener Art Museum.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3285/2433368641_50d4c35e2e.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3285/2433368641_50d4c35e2e.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />With Kim's permission, I am very pleased to share a few examples of WAS's magnificent work from that catalogue with you today.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3171/2433368317_591f9b9e5a.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 380px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3171/2433368317_591f9b9e5a.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />We will very certainly be revisiting the life and work of William A. Smith in the future. Kim, her brother Rick, and her mom, Ferol, have all been relating some great anecdotes that you will eventually get to read here. And I have been scanning more of Smith's art from my magazine collection to accompany those stories.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/2433368463_a9e97f18a7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 380px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/2433368463_a9e97f18a7.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />But that's for another time. For now, enjoy these images at full size in my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1604960/">William A. Smith Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-37739192833927115262009-04-03T04:28:00.000-07:002009-04-03T04:30:15.343-07:00Happy Independence Day!The 'John Hancock' series of ads that Mutual Life Insurance sponsored throughout the 1950's is really one of the finest campaigns that ever ran. Each ad is beautifully painted by a top illustrator, like these below by John Gannam, Harold Von Schmidt, and William A. Smith respectively.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/2635895361_d2cc266950.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/2635895361_d2cc266950.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />As well, the copy is both entertaining and educational. A brief, beautiful history lesson, courtesy of the advertiser. What a shame no company is running something like this today!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3039/2636719478_626e547c54.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3039/2636719478_626e547c54.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />What a great opportunity. Without a doubt, any illustrator working today would love to have such an assignment. (Are you listening, corporate America?) <br /><br />William A. Smith's son, Rick, told me his dad <span style="font-style:italic;">"always researched the historical projects deeply. He loved to find historical discrepencies in existing depictions of situations he was reviewing."</span> <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/2636719618_2fe6a77bae.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/2636719618_2fe6a77bae.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />To all our American friends, Happy Independence Day - and on this day when you celebrate your country's history, take a moment to enjoy these ads at full size in <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157600659783207/">my American Legends Flickr set.</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-15003622504259317392009-04-03T04:26:00.000-07:002009-04-03T04:27:24.084-07:00William A. Smith: Inside Weihsien Prison CampWith Remembrance Day (Veterans Day in the U.S.) almost upon us, I thought this week's topic should be one that reminds us of the suffering endured and sacrifices made by people everywhere in times of war.<br /><br />Thanks to Kim Smith, daughter of the late William A. Smith, we are fortunate to have this first-hand account of the artist's experiences inside the walls of Weihsien Prison, a P.O.W. camp run by the Japanese in Shantung Province, China during W.W.II.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/3018817025_11680118dd.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 389px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/3018817025_11680118dd.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Smith was serving with the OSS in China when he was assigned this special mission and spent a month with the internees. He both wrote and illustrated the following article for the July 1946 issue of <span style="font-style:italic;">Asia and the Americas</span> magazine, employing sketches and paintings he did during that time. His story begins below...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/3019648446_cf8c6da3b3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 238px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/3019648446_cf8c6da3b3.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"The former Presbyterian Mission at Weihsien, in Shantung Province, China, was converted by the Japanese into a prison for fifteen hundred civilians, who were held there for two and a half years."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/3019648328_267ce94539_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 823px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/3019648328_267ce94539_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"On August 17, 1945, a seven-man OSS team commanded by Major Stanley Steiger parachuted from a B-24 flying about four hundred and fifty feet above the internment center. This was one of a number of missions, which included those resulting in the release of General Wainwright at Mukden and the Doolittle fliers who had been held at Peiping. The OSS men landed uncomfortably in a field just outside the electrified barbed-wire entanglement surrounding the compound wall. Taking up defensive positions until they could judge their reception by the Japanese, they were startled and momentarily confused by an unexpected piece of luck. The internees, overwhelmed and hysterical with joy at seeing the men drop from a plane with the American flag painted on the underside of its wing, defied the armed Japanese sentries and burst through the gates to greet their liberators. The confusion caused by these people, who hadn’t been outside the prison walls in two and a half years, so distracted the sentries that no attempt was made to take action against the Americans who had jumped in."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/3019648240_dd7bdfbf89_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 729px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/3019648240_dd7bdfbf89_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"All returned within the prison walls, happily bearing the Americans on their shoulders. The psychological advantage thus achieved was a valuable precedent for later positive demands that the Major mad upon the Japanese. Inside the gates conferences were held which resulted in the surrender of the camp. One of the conditions of the surrender was that the Japanese should continue to furnish sentries to guard the camp against any possible outside danger."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3028/3019648146_0965da0227_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 823px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3028/3019648146_0965da0227_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"The next day Major Steiger arrived at the airport to meet a supply plane and found two hundred Jap soldiers in battle positions around the field. The Americans signaled the plane to return to Hsian without landing and the Major immediately demanded an explanation from the Japanese authorities. The ensuing stormy session was a great victory for the twenty-seven-year-old American Major. After this incident the Japanese became docile and extremely cooperative."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/3018816409_99f15ea091_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 462px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/3018816409_99f15ea091_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Several days later I was flown in on a special mission for Col. Richard Heppner, commander of all OSS operations in China."</span><br /><br />* My thanks to Kim Smith for providing both the art and article for this week's topic. Our story continues tomorrow.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-63946242964034197652009-04-03T04:25:00.001-07:002009-04-03T04:25:55.496-07:00William A. Smith Describes Life in WeihsienFrom an article that originally appeared in <span style="font-style:italic;">Asia and the Americas</span> magazine in July, 1946, written and illustrated by William A. Smith:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Shortly after a plane landed at the airfield three miles from the internment centre, a dilapidated truck driven by two Japanese soldiers brought representatives from the camp. Most of the reception committee consisted of members of the Chefoo Boy Scout troop. With enthusiasm they quickly unloaded the plane and transferred the supplies to the truck."<br /> <br />"The former Mission, which incidentally was the birthplace of Henry R. Luce, the publisher of Life, was made up of a large number of solidly constructed brick buildings, surrounded by a high brick wall. The Japanese had built guard towers at strategic locations along this wall, which was topped with electrified barbed wire."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/3021614675_cbe37e503d_b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 544px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/3021614675_cbe37e503d_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Most of the families lived in long, one-story buildings divided into several rooms approximately nine by twelve feet. Each of these cubicles was ordinarily occupied by two or three people, a man and wife and perhaps a child. The blocks of buildings had a shanty-town look. Each dwelling had a tiny back yard equipped with an improvised stove, chairs and a table made from available junk, according to the resourcefulness of the tenant. Stovepipes were constructed by piecing together discarded tin cans [shown below]. Bricks, stones, crates, bamboo poles and metal containers were quickly put to use by those lucky enough to be able to find them. There were also a number of larger buildings."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"One was occupied by bachelor girls, another a men’s dormitory. Perhaps the grandest building was the hospital. It was excellently staffed by internees, among whom were some of the best doctors in North China. There was simple church, more than adequately attended to by the missionaries, who practically overran the camp."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/3022445030_8dcae6e739_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 611px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/3022445030_8dcae6e739_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"I climbed the wooden ladder in one of the guard towers and when I got to the top I found a somewhat embarrassed Jap sentry. When I greeted him with “Konnichi-wa”, he snapped to attention, saluted me and handed me his rifle. Naturally I was surprised, but I accepted the weapon, inspected it and handed it back to him. He again saluted and after returning his salute I descended the ladder, leaving him with mutual “sayonaras”. I felt that if it was as easy as that, I could certainly get him to pose for a sketch. The next day I made the painting of him in the tower which is reproduced on the third cover. That night I found a bottle of saki that he had left in my quarters as an expression of his gratitude."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3050/3022445078_54bb93e0ed_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 462px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3050/3022445078_54bb93e0ed_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Most of the prisoners were British. There were also Americans, Belgians, Italians, Eurasians and the various other types that would naturally be found in a group of people gathered under these circumstances from northern Chinese towns such as Tientsin, Peiping, Cheefoo and Tsingtao. They were missionaries, soldiers of fortune, businessmen, educators, professional people and scholars, such as E. T. C. Werner, author of many books on Chinese life, customs and mythology. There were the powerful and influential leaders of industry known as “taipans”. These people were accustomed to having servants and living in the luxury of the Occidental in the Orient. When they were all thrown together and forced to make their new home livable it required considerable readjustment. During the first few days of internment, they had the new experience of having to perform menial tasks before the eyes of Chinese coolies, who reclined under trees and watched their humiliation with great glee."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3034/3021614287_caafa772a9_b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 581px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3034/3021614287_caafa772a9_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"A committee of nine selected by the internees took care of what self-government was permitted and of all negotiations with the Japanese authorities. They organized schools, set up kitchens, saw that the hospital was staffed, appointed fire tenders and organized games and dances. An orchestra was formed by an American Negro musician, who had come to China to play with a jazz band, a couple of Hawaiians and a few amateurs. They played a conglomeration of early vintage jazz tunes such as “Sweet Sue,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “Red Sails in the Sunset,” and, after the liberation, “Happy Days Are Here Again.” Every able-bodied person was assigned some duty according to his special abilities. General welfare of the camp was gradually improved, and soon even shower rooms were constructed."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3046/3021816743_39a347a414.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3046/3021816743_39a347a414.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />"The women, many of whom had never cooked and sewed before, showed considerable skill. The problem of making clothing last was one of their difficult tasks and they accomplished it amazingly well. One woman was a gifted interior decorator, and she and her husband made their small cubicle on of the wonders of the camp."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/3021614347_b833a9bc80.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 311px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/3021614347_b833a9bc80.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"The prisoners were not subject to beating, but infants and old people endured needless discomfort. Daily assemblies were enforced, and people made to stand in formations while they were counted. Bad weather and lack of adequate clothing made this a great hardship. Giving babies as well as adults nearing their ninetieth year a poor diet of rice gruel, turnips and bread, but almost entirely lacking in meat, eggs and dairy products, was unnecessarily inhumane. Located in a fertile and rich part of the Shantung peninsula, the camp could easily have been supplied with more and better food. By an “over-the-wall” black market the internees were able to augment their diet. Those who lacked cash to deal with the Chinese outside sold wedding rings and other personal treasures to individual Japanese guards for a fraction of their value. This black market was organized and run by a Catholic priest internee whose membership in the Trappist Order had prevented his speaking a word during the twenty-five years prior to his imprisonment. His efficiency and volubility were admired by fellow internees."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/3021614139_6883473a4a_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 571px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/3021614139_6883473a4a_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Some of the people felt it important to buy black market whiskey as well as food. The ever-resourceful Chinese peasants supplied this demand with “bai gar” (white lightning), a horribly potent drink resembling vodka, but made from millet. If no other beverage is available, it might be recommended, but not very highly."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3071/3021614065_b9cb40c156_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 532px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3071/3021614065_b9cb40c156_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />* My thanks to Kim Smith for providing both the art and article for this week's topic. Our story continues tomorrow.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-17619272573128017572009-04-03T04:24:00.000-07:002009-04-03T04:25:04.162-07:00"Their enthusiasm made me very humble."From an article that originally appeared in <span style="font-style:italic;">Asia and the Americas</span> magazine in July, 1946, written and illustrated by William A. Smith:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"People had to wait in line for the simplest necessities. Soap, tobacco and especially sugar were at a very great premium, and the young children had never tasted candy. All drinking water was boiled, and it was touching to see the morning water queue."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3219/3025728518_10073f50ca_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 559px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3219/3025728518_10073f50ca_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"After the arrival of the OSS team, hundreds of tons of food and clothing were parachuted into the camp from planes. There were candy bars, canned soups, canned turkeys, Virginia hams, plenty of sugar, soap, GI rations and medical supplies. The men, women and children were delighted with their GI combat jackets, fatigue caps and Army issue shoes. These were the first new clothes they had had in ears. The women were especially fascinated with the new types of food that they had never seen before. Canned butter, lemonade powder and canned stews were strange and wonderful delights. Parachute cloth was made into beautiful new blue, red or yellow dresses and blouses."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3020/3024899799_42185650e5_b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 538px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3020/3024899799_42185650e5_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"After the first few days of internment, only one Chinese was permitted inside the high brick wall. He was a dirty and stupid-acting coolie whose job was to remove the pails of refuse from the latrines. The Japanese would have no part of this job. Actually, he was an OSS agent and his access to the camp made it possible for the prisoners to communicate with the outside. His “contact” inside the internment center was Father Diego, a Catholic priest whose duty it was to clean the latrines. The other internees were most surprised when, after the camp had been taken by the Americans, this same Chinese walked through the gates in a western-type business suit."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/3024899567_2f1fec86e7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 443px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/3024899567_2f1fec86e7.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"In the middle of 1944 an American, Arthur M. Hummel, and a British companion made a dramatic escape over the wall on a dark night. They had sent word through Father Diego and the OSS Chinese agent to a group of central government guerrillas and a rendezvous had been arranged. For the next fourteen months they stayed with the guerrillas and their radio contact with the American army supplied much of the information that aided Major Steiger’s capture of the camp. A new Japanese commandant had been established in the camp only shortly before the escape was accomplished. When the two men were discovered to be missing the Japanese commander assembled the prisoners and with tears streaming down his cheeks begged that no one else try to escape. The incident had put him in a bad light with his superiors and he had lost great “face.” He said that if any one else got away it would be necessary for him to commit hara-kiri. He had a family and did not want to die."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3289/3024899485_55b5ce3780_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 530px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3289/3024899485_55b5ce3780_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"There was much interest in the sketches I had been making around the compound, and I was asked to permit an exhibition. Before the doors were opened there was an incredibly long line of people waiting to get in. Many people, after filing through and examining each picture as long as the crowd behind would permit, returned to the end of the line to await their turn to see the things again. Their enthusiasm made me very humble."</span><br /><br />* My thanks to Kim Smith for providing both the art and article for this week's topic. Our story continues tomorrow.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-77560444077487491652009-04-03T04:23:00.000-07:002009-04-03T04:24:03.201-07:00Getting Out of Weihsien: "...we were confronted with a very serious problem."From an article that originally appeared in <span style="font-style: italic;">Asia and the Americas</span> magazine in July, 1946, written and illustrated by William A. Smith:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Steiger had promised to secure a projector and some films, but their arrival was maddeningly delayed. When a plane landed at the airstrip the first question asked was, “Did the projector come?” Toward the end of my month’s stay, the movie equipment finally arrived. A joyous holiday atmosphere swept the camp. Threats of not being able to see the movie put children on their best behavior. I attended the first showing, but the picture was so bad that I couldn’t endure more than the first ten minutes of it. I was outside the theater when the internees came out raving about what a superb picture it had been."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/3027666153_0269f54844_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 624px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/3027666153_0269f54844_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"The considerable delay in the evacuation of the camp was due partly to the troubled situation in that area. The Chineses Communists were very active in the vicinity, and kept the puppet general whose troops were holding the town of Weihsien in a state of extreme nervousness. The ten thousand Japanese troops in the vicinity were still armed, and the central government guerilla group was busy with its own operations. These four factions created a great deal of confusion, and there was heavy fighting every night. The Japs were trying to keep the railroad, which ran from Weihsien to Tsingtao, open, but the tracks and bridges were constantly being blown out of commission by explosive. We couldn’t depend on trains getting through to the coast, and since this was the only means of transportation available, we were confronted with a very serious problem."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3197/3027666227_9c9d93e658_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 454px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3197/3027666227_9c9d93e658_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"In the interest of getting the prisoners out, an agreement to keep the railroad open for twelve days was finally secured from the warring factions. Since Tsingtao lacked accommodations to absorb all fifteen hundred prisoners, it was decided to take approximately a third of them in the first trainload. Hospital cases and people with homes or friends in the Tsingtao are were included in the first group. Bad weather, which made the roads to the railway impassable, caused another delay, but the first group finally reached Tsingtao safely. I went to Tsingtao a few days later and stayed a couple of weeks. On the thirteenth day after the agreement, the railroad had again been blown up in a number of places. At the time I left Tsingtao for Shanghai the remaining internees had not yet been able to get out of Weihsien."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/3027666019_58c8cdfce9_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/3027666019_58c8cdfce9_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />* My thanks to Kim Smith for providing both the art and article for this week's topic. Our story concludes tomorrow.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169497350371078786.post-23332101775432535052009-04-03T04:21:00.000-07:002009-04-03T04:22:26.488-07:00William A Smith: "...a terrible picture of the atrociousness of war."Today, the conclusion of an article that originally appeared in <span style="font-style: italic;">Asia and the Americas</span> magazine in July, 1946, written and illustrated by William A. Smith:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"At Hsian, previous to coming to Weihsien, I had gone over to visit and make a sketch of George Barr, one of the Doolittle fliers rescued by our team that had jumped into Peking."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/3031677857_0f5da17c7b_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/3031677857_0f5da17c7b_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Kept in solitary confinement for the duration of the war, suffering from beri-beri and having been horribly beaten by brutal Japanese guards, Barr presented a terrible picture of the atrociousness of war. Greenishly pale, staring vacantly at the broken knuckles of his hands, he was unable to recognize or talk to any one. I was so overwhelmed by the sight that I couldn’t draw, but it was so vivid that I could sketch it today from memory."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/3031677953_9c32b0f4a1_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 362px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/3031677953_9c32b0f4a1_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"This experience emphasized the comparative good fortune of the civilians who were interned at Weihsien. They were subject to hardships and indignities, but they were certainly not victims of torture and brutality."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3236/3032850760_0209e63034_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3236/3032850760_0209e63034_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"The length of the internment perhaps had a greater effect upon the children than upon the adults. Many of the children know of no other way of life."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/3032517124_5f0f5c0190_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 597px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/3032517124_5f0f5c0190_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"One small child, upon reaching the coast and seeing the ocean for the first time, exclaimed, “Oh mommy, what a large cesspool!”<br /></span><br /><br />* My sincere thanks to Kim Smith, William A. Smith's daughter, who provided the text from this article, along with all of the scans. Some of this week's images were from William A. Smith's <span style="font-style: italic;">other</span> OSS missions around China during W.W.II.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3049/3031678199_d23e1c36ff.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3049/3031678199_d23e1c36ff.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>For those interested in learning more about the Weihsien Prison camp, Kim has provided a number of photographs which I have archived <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157609134237031/">here</a>. As well, Kim located <a href="http://www.weihsien-paintings.org/">an extensive website about Weihsien</a> that includes "documents, paintings, sketches, texts and memories" of the survivors of the camp.<br /><br />As a final treat, Kim sent along this drawing done - not <span style="font-style:italic;">by</span> her dad, but rather <span style="font-style:italic;">of him</span> - by another artist who's career we've previously looked at: <a href="http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2008/05/gilbert-bundys-girls.html">Gilbert Bundy</a>. <br /><br />After the war, Bill Smith continued to travel extensively throughout Asia (and Africa) and this drawing was done "on a USO junket to Korea in '51 or '52, when a group of illustrators went to entertain the troops. They wore their own old Army uniforms," writes Kim, "I guess to fit in."leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com0