Collection ID: LMC 2907
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Withers, George, 1911-1959
Abstract:
The Withers, George mss., 1944-1945, consists of eight posters by Army war artist George Withers (1911-1959) during World War II.
Extent:
8 Items (1 folio)
Language:
Materials are in English .
Preferred citation:

[Item], Withers, George mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

George Withers, illustrator and artist, was born December 21, 1911, in Wichita, Kansas.

He attended schools in Kansas as his father, George Withers Senior, was a cattleman, who moved the family several times because of his employment.

Withers graduated Central High School in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1928 and received a football scholarship to KU (the University of Kansas) based on his play on a championship team at Central High. He played pulling guard.

In his senior year at KU, he received a national scholarship to study art at New York's Art Students League, where many well known American artists and illustrators had studied through the years. He studied with the famed anatomy teacher George Bridgman, whose books are still in print, at the League. He became an illustrator after his study at the League. He worked for NW Ayer in Philadelphia for several years, working on the AT&T and Ford Motor Company accounts among others. He moved to New York and began work for the Sutton & O'Brien Ad Agency in the Fred French building on 5th Avenue.

His work began to appear regularly in magazines such as Colliers, Newsweek, the Saturday Evening Post, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Bluebook, the New York Times, the New York Herald Tribune, the New York World Telegram, Field&Stream, et al. Among his accounts were Pan Am, Arrow Shirts, Bakers Chocolate, Chase & Sanborn coffee, White Rose tea, Weber&Heilbroner clothing, Syracuse china, FTD Florists, US Savings bonds, Schenleys, Carstairs, Lea&Perrins, Swan soap, Canada Dry, Pepsi Cola, the Thos. Edison Co., etc.

He worked for the fledgling Army Air Corp. at its New York office on Park Avenue, illustrating aircraft and weapons systems. The Army Air Corp. became the US Air Force shortly after World War II.

He entered the Army and took basic training at Indian Town Gap in Pennsylvania and at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. He began watercolors and pen & ink drawings of Army life. He shipped out on the Queen Mary to Grennock on the Clyde in Scotland.

He became a war artist for the Army in England and in France, specifically at the European Theatre of Operations (ETO) headquarters in Paris under Ike. His work appeared numerous times in Stars and Stripes, Army Talks, Overseas Women, and other military publications. He painted portraits of Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lucius Clay. Each general sent him a thank you letter. He painted fifteen magazine covers for military magazines and illustrated many articles.

He illustrated 26 novels for Redbook and is listed in the Fiction Magazine Guide and Wartime Press on the Internet.

He also illustrated magazine articles for a J.D. Salinger story "Both Parties Concerned," a John D. MacDonald (the mystery writer) story, and a Robert Ruark story among other authors for whom he painted.

He died on February 6, 1959.

Scope and Content:

The Withers, George mss., 1944-1945, consists of eight posters by Army war artist George Withers (1911-1959) during World War II.

Acquisition information:
Gift: 2013
Physical location:
Missing

Indexed Terms

Names:
Withers, George

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research.

Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], Withers, George mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
1200 East Seventh Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
(812) 855-2452
liblilly@indiana.edu