In 1918 the US Army commissioned eight artists as Captains and sent them to Europe to document WW1. The eight traveled with the troops and made large numbers of drawings and paintings. This was the beginning of the US Army Art Program, which continues to this day and now comprises more than 15,000 works by over 1,300 artists.
The original eight artists included several students of Howard Pyle who later became famous as members of the Brandywine School. The names of all eight artists are listed here, with links to additional information.
William James Aylward, Walter Jack Duncan, Harvey Thomas Dunn, George Matthews Harding, Wallace Morgan, Ernest Clifford Peixotto, J. Andre Smith, Harry Everett Townsend
The Air and Space Museum in Washington DC is currently hosting an exhibition of works from these early war artists, comprising over 100 drawings and paintings. I happened upon this exhibit, and was amazed at the quality of the images, which were created on-site under difficult conditions and with basic materials.
I especially loved the charcoal drawings of Harry Everett Townsend, shown below:
And Harvey Dunn's more dynamic style is shown in the mixed media pieces below:
I highly recommend the entire exhibit, which runs through November 11, 2018.
Ivan Thompson, Washington, DC