Signed William Draper WWII Painting - Landing at Guam

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Ancient & Ethnographic Art Through The Ages

By Artemis Gallery

Feb 10, 2022

Set Reminder 2022-02-10 10:00:00 2022-02-10 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Ancient & Ethnographic Art Through The Ages https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/ancient-ethnographic-art-through-the-ages-8873
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• Lot Description
  William Franklin Draper (American, 1912-2003). Study for mural "Landing at Guam" oil on heavy gauge illustration board, ca. 1943 CE. Signed "Wm. F. Draper" on lower right. An action-packed composition by combat artist William Draper featuring soldiers rushing to the coast of Guam during World War II. Notice that Draper painted the scene as viewed through the window of a ship, replete with spouts of water projecting up from the embattled waters, a burning vessel with red flames and plumes of smoke in the sea, and a crowd of soldiers making their way to shore. In 1942, William Draper joined the Navy, and served as a combat artist when stationed on the Aleutian Islands and in the South Pacific. He observed and painted battle scenes on Bougainville, Guam, Saipan, and other locations, as well as genre scenes of soldiers who were not engaged in combat but rather between battles. This piece was a study for a mural entitled "Landing at Guam" that Draper painted for the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Combat artists like Lieutenant Draper certainly did not shy away from dangerous wartime conditions but rather bravely recorded the alarming events as they unfolded. Size: 13.625" L x 34" W (34.6 cm x 86.4 cm)
  
  William Franklin Draper was born in Hopedale, Massachusetts on December 24, 1912. A child prodigy, he studied classical piano at Harvard University. He later changed his focus to fine art and studied with Charles Webster Hawthorne and Henry Hensche in Provincetown, Rhode Island. Draper also attended the National Academy of Design in New York and the Cape Cod School of Art in Massachusetts. Then he traveled to Spain and studied with Harry Zimmerman, moved on to France and attended the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere. In 1937, he moved to Boston to study sculpture with George Demetrius and also studied with Jon Corbino in beautiful Rockport, Massachusetts. In 1942, Draper joined the Navy and served as a combat artist when stationed on the Aleutian Islands and in the South Pacific. He observed and painted battle scenes on Bougainville, Guam, Saipan, and other locations, as well as genre scenes of soldiers who were not engaged in combat but rather at work and at play. National Geographic magazine reproduced 25 of his war images in four issues in 1944. In 1945, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. organized a group exhibition of works by five official war artists, including Draper. That same year the Metropolitan Museum of Art included Draper in an exhibition entitled, ''The War Against Japan.'' Draper was also featured in a PBS television show about combat artists entitled, "They Drew Fire" in May of 2000. After the war, Draper opened a studio on Park Avenue in New York City and continued to not only paint, but also play classical and jazz piano.
  
  Draper's career spanned seven decades. In addition to painting WWII battle scenes, he painted landscapes, floral still lifes, interiors, and was an accomplished portraitist. In fact, Draper's subjects included a portrait of John F. Kennedy that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. based upon an oil sketch for which the president sat in 1962. Draper was actually the only artist who painted JFK from life. Draper showed at Knoedler, the Graham Gallery, Portraits, Inc., the Far Gallery, The Findlay Galleries (New York, NY) and the Robert C. Vose Galleries (Boston, MA). His work has been included in shows at the National Portrait Gallery and the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), The National Academy of Design (New York, NY), The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, (Boston, MA) the Fogg Art Museum, (one of the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA), the National Gallery, (London), Salon de la Marine (Paris) and in museums in Australia. Draper also taught at the Art Students League of New York, and received a lifetime achievement award from the Portrait Society of America in 1999.
  
  Provenance: The William F. Draper Collection, New York City, USA, acquired via descent from the late William Franklin Draper (1912-2003), an accomplished American artist whose career spanned seven decades. Known as the "Dean of American Portraiture," William Draper was the only artist to paint President John F. Kennedy from life, and his oeuvre includes marvelous landscapes from his world travels, military paintings as he was one of only seventeen Combat Artists in WWII, and portraits of illustrious individuals.
  
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  #153869

  Condition

  Signed by the artist on the lower right. A few scuffs with pigment losses to the painting as shown. A few stains and scuffs with pigment losses to the grey background as shown. Minute old loss to board at center of upper edge, presumably from nail used to attach framing. Painting is a bit loose within the frame. Frame could be removed if desired. Draper Estate stamp on verso. "Sketch for Mural 'Landing at Guam' at US Naval Academy" is handwritten on verso.
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