Celebrating Illinois Women Artists

asked artists of Taos and Santa Fe for help.

Harriet answered the call.

What the army needed were rangefinder paintings—large works depicting French and Belgian scenes. The paintings were to be used for indoor rifle practice to develop proficiency in estimating distances and range finding. New recruits learned to adjust the range finder on their rifles to direct a shot accurately. It was a unique request in military history, and it was no small gift from the artists. The paintings were large, four by six feet, and worth one hundred thousand Liberty Bonds, the equivalent of thousands of dollars.2 Harriet painted scenes of Bruges, Belgium, a city she knew well, having taken a painting class there