CONTENT WARNING
Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation.
Context
Based in New York, N.Y., 1942-1946. Artists for Victory, Inc. was a non-profit organization of more than ten thousand artists was formed to assist in the war effort by using their artistic abilities to inform the public about the war effort and to gain support for the war effort. Their activities included a British-American goodwill exhibition, sponsoring portrait drawings, demonstrations of arts and crafts, and instruction in military hospitals. Often, the art created was used as a form of propaganda using purposefully designed goals and strategies to persuade the American public to back the military fighting in World War II.
In the fall of 1942, Artists for Victory, Council for Democracy, and the Museum of Modern Art sponsored the National War Poster Competition. Artists from 43 states submitted 2,224 designs. The posters portrayed 8 themes selected from the President's first war message to Congress on January 6, 1942, as well as 20 slogans. The eight war themes selected were: Production, War Bonds, The Nature of the Enemy, Loose Talk, Slave World or Free World?, The People are on the March, and Deliver Us From Evil.
Artists for Victory selected 50 images and had them reproduced as war posters which would be distributed around the country. Many of the posters juxtaposed the strength and goodness of the Allies' cause with the tyranny and destruction of the nations that fought against them, the Axis powers of Japan, Italy, and German.
Citation: No. 44 of the First Series of 50 War Poster Labels sponsored by Artists for Victory, Inc. Artist - Clarence West, 1943, Records of the World War II History Commission, Miscellaneous Records, Box 1b, Folder 100, Accession 27544, State Records Collection, Library of Virginia.
Standards
Art: 4.1, 4.18, 4.19, 5.1, 5.18, 5.19
Suggested Questions
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the war poster. What message is the artist trying to convey? How does it related to the subject indicated in the text on the poster?
Post Activity
Analyze: The poster is a powerful piece of propaganda art. How do these artistic choices affect the impact of the image as a whole? Would you classify these as propaganda compared to other image campaigns of the time period? Why or why not?
Artistic Exploration: Select one of the themes from the poster collection and create your own entry as if you were part of the 1942 competition.
Up for Debate: Do you think propaganda messaging is something that a government should sponsor? Why or why not? Find other examples of WW II-era imagery to support your position.