James Montgomery Flagg. - Meyer, Susan E.

Bound, cloth with original dustjacket, 208pp., 24x31.5cm., richly illustr. in col. and b/w., in very good condition. As new. ISBN 0823018350.
New York Watson Guptill 1974
James Montgomery Flagg was the most popular illustrator in America at a time when magazines combined the best in writing with the best in illustration. His satirical illustrations form a portrait of America between 1900 and 1940. Flagg's best-known work was the WWI "Uncle Sam Wants You" recruiting poster. It is the most famous American poster in history. Flagg's prowess as an artist was staggering; he worked in any medium with equal ease - pen and ink, watercolor, oils, charcoal, and pencil, and was even an expert sculptor. The Flagg girl, a saucy, full-lipped long-legged woman created by the artist, illustrated the same canons of beauty that prevail today, and Flagg's widely circulated portrait drawings and paintings of celebrities form a composite of the prominent literary, artistic, theatrical, and political figures of the first half of the 290trh century. Besides being the country's most famous illustrator, Flagg was also its most conspicuous bohemian, an incorrigible individualist who always made the headline with his escapades around New York. Flagg was also a poet, author, satirist, motion-picture writer, and actor. He wrote and illustrated 12 books; wrote and acted in 24 silent films; and wrote and acted in countless playlets. JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG recreates in book form, for the first time, the excitement and humor of Flagg's America. Here is the story of the man - from the time he sold his first illustration at the age of 12 to his last phase as a Hollywood illustrator. The book is lavishly illustrated with Flagg's posters, his pen and inks, magazine covers, charcoal portraits of celebrities and his skilled easel paintings, portraits, and landscapes in oil and watercolor. 208 pages. 175 black and while illustrations. 70 full color plates. With Index. [James Montgomery Flagg.]