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Views of Valor World War I Paintings by As the horror of WWI drew to a close The Ladies' Home Journal hired local artists Frank Schoonover and Gayle Hoskins as well as eleven other artists to commemorate the war in a series of paintings. Beginning in 1918, these color illustrations (intended to be removed and framed) were offered as patriotic souvenirs for the American people. Before television brought images of today's events into our homes, or movie theaters presented newsreels, and heavily illustrated newspapers were still a thing of the future, the public depended on books and magazines of the Curtis Publishing empire to provide visual images of events at home or abroad. Printing technology easily allowed reproductions of black and white photographs in newspapers, but photos often showed a harsh reality, or didn't capture the essence of a moment. Full-color printing, presenting composed paintings, was available in the early 1900s. For families who lost a son or husband in the conflict, Frank Schoonover, Gayle Hoskins, and The Ladies' Home Journal provided some of the only patriotic images, in color, of heroic deeds and proud moments. Noted illustrators Frank E. Schoonover and Gayle P. Hoskins trained under Delaware's famous Howard Pyle. Both men enjoyed long careers as illustrators, working in their Wilmington studios. Neither artist traveled to Europe for this assignment, instead gleaning their information from war correspondents and photographs. Both men posed models wearing uniforms provided by the War Department to create the large, colorful, and detailed canvases used to produced printed images. When Curtis finished with the paintings, the canvases were returned to the artists, and life moved on. Occasionally a patron found one of these war scenes intriguing and purchased it, but most of the images remained in storage for the next fifty years. In 1960, the Delaware National Guard began negotiating with National Guardsman Gayle Hoskins to acquire eight of this WWI paintings. Two years later, the Guard purchased an additional nine paintings from Frank Schoonover. These large, colorful images graced the Delaware National Guard offices for the past forty years. Age darkened the varnishes and the once vibrant scenes slowly became dim and dirty looking. These treasures from two of Delaware's famous illustrators were slipping into obscurity. Due to the efforts of an Historical Society of Delaware board member and retired National Guard general, William Duncan, these historic paintings received months of professional restoration and once again display the bright colors and crisp composition for which the Brandywine School of illustration is known. For the first time since being painted, the Schoonover and Hoskins paintings, owned by the Delaware National Guard, will be displayed to the public at the Delaware History Museum. Also on display are a selection of World War I uniforms, weapons, and posters owned by the Historical Society of Delaware. Exhibit Opening: November 11, 2002 On
view to the public beginning Click here for directions.
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