eMoviePoster.com

What are the objects in the corners of some images? Learn More

James Montgomery Flagg was a legendary American artist and illustrator from the 1890s to 1960. He worked in media ranging from fine art painting to cartooning, but he is surely best remembered for his famous Uncle Sam ("I Want You") recruitment poster which was first used in World War I (WWI), and is one of the most iconic images ever created, recognized the world over. Like Norman Rockwell, another legendary illustrator, he began incredibly early! In 1889, when he was 12 years old, he had some of his work accepted by national magazines, and two years later, he was a contributing artist for Life magazine, and the following year, he was published in Judge, and his work in Judge included a comic strip that was published from 1903 to 1907, called "Nervy Nat". He drew the "I Want You" poster in 1917, and over 4 million copies of the poster were printed during World War I alone. He used his own face as inspiration for Uncle Sam (adding age and the goatee). At his peak, he was the highest paid magazine illustrator in America. He painted and drew many portraits of famous celebrities. He passed away in 1960 at the age of 82.

Artist: James Montgomery Flagg

Important Added Info: Note that, as noted above, James Montgomery Flagg drew and painted portraits of famous Hollywood celebrities for many years. We know that he painted a portrait of John Barrymore in 1927 (when Barrymore starred in "The Beloved Rogue"). This original charcoal drawing of Barrymore was clearly drawn later years later. We know that Flagg created a series of charcoal portraits like these in 1936 to 1938 that were used on the cover of Photoplay magazine (we have auctioned many of those issues!). We know that this charcoal drawing hung at the bar of the famous Lamb's Club, where Barrymore was a member (and the drawing hung directly opposite his regular bar chair, where Barrymore spent MANY hours)! Barrymore was known as "The Great Profile", and he had Flagg draw him in profile and this image was used in both Flagg's biography and Barrymore's biography, "Good Night Sweet Prince". When the Lamb's Club went out of business, one of the members acquired this and later sold it to a man who was in the entertainment business for decades. That man traded it to our consignor, and we are certain it is authentic, but he does not have a certificate of authenticity. The original owner had it framed on their wall for many years, and it is taped to a heavy board with clear tape around the edges (the tape only affects the blank white borders). He had a black mat glued to the edges of the heavy board. The mat is now loose, but will be sent together with the original drawing to the new owner, in case they want to re-frame it the same way.

Our address for UPS or FedEx only is:
Bruce Hershenson,
306 Washington Avenue, West Plains, MO 65775