Ghost armY
DOWD, Painting '41
JAN WHITE
KELLY, Painting '44
courtesy OF the artist
soldiers today
Ellsworth Kelly, Briey, 1945, gouache on paper, 7 7/8” x 9 7/8” © Elllsworth Kelly.
resonated in his illustrations for airlines, government, industry, and 32 national magazines, including Life, Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and The New York Times Magazine. Today, both are still active as watercolorists.
SAYLES, ILLUSTRATION '47
Diana pau
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS
SHILSTONE, ILLUSTRATION '47
HARRIS, GRAPHIC DESIGN '45
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The veil of secrecy that has shrouded the Ghost Army in the decades since 1945 began to lift 40 years later with the publication of Edward Park’s article “A Phantom Division Played a Role in Germany’s Defeat,” in Smithsonian magazine in 1985. More revelations followed with the publication of William W. Phillips 1996 article “The Ghost Army of World War II” for the Laynor Foundation website. Books came next: Jack Kneece’s Ghost Army of World War II (Casemate, 2001), Jonathan Gawne’s Ghosts of the Eto (Pelican, 2002), and Philip Gerard’s Secret Soldiers (Dutton, 2002). Mindful of the veterans’ advancing age, The Carriage Barn Arts Center in New Canaan, Conn., held an exhibition in 2004, titled “WWII Artists—Front Lines to the Home Front,” which displayed the wartime drawings and paintings of 14 former soldiers. The accompanying documentary film, Art in the Face of War (directed by David Baugnon), brought to life the recollections of eight Ghost Army veterans living in Connecticut. In September 2007, NPR ran a piece on the Ghost Army as part of its series World War Two Stories. Currently under way is a new documentary about the Ghost Army by award-winning film producer Rick Beyer. It juxtaposes interviews with images of artwork by members of the troupe. A segment of this film will be screened during the Pratt alumni reunion “ReIGNITE” in 2008—and Pratt’s veterans will be there to see it. P
Diana pau
APPRECIATION AT LAST
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