IMAGES FROM WORLD WAR II:
THE ART OF JACK SMITH
DESCRIPTION
A collection of 36 black and white paintings of iconic WWII scenes in brush and ink by Jack Smith, WWII veteran and commercial artist.
Each of the stark, black and white line drawings reproduced in this book capture the essence of the war in the Pacific, the terrain, the ships, the men. All were drawn from iconic photographs captured by professional and amateur photographers and journalists who witnessed the fighting firsthand. Years after the war, but with the memories of his time in the U.S. Navy fresh, Jack rendered by hand the images that spoke to him most clearly.
REVIEWS
Images from World War II – The Art of Jack Smith by Jack Smith and Rona Simmons is a historical account of the World War II years 1942-1946 captured both in drawings by Jack Smith as well as narrative by Rona Simmons. It will appeal to history buffs, survivors of World War II, and the families of those United States military service men and women who served during the Second World War. Artist Jack Smith enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943 on the day he turned 18 years old. Smith left military service in 1946, pursuing his lifelong dream of a career in art. After retiring in the 1980s, Smith finally found the time to reflect back on his time served in the war in the Pacific through his drawings.
The drawings and short narratives provided in Images from World War II – The Art of Jack Smith by Jack Smith and Rona Simmons helped someone like me, who didn’t know a lot about World War II, to gain a good grasp of not only the facts of the battles as provided by Simmons, but also the feelings of the soldiers as provided by Smith. My heart was touched by the emotion reflected in the eyes of the young soldier in Smith’s rendition of a marine depicted in Fury in the Pacific. I became teary-eyed as I viewed Smith’s drawing of the greater-than-thirty-one-thousand troops who died in the Battle of Tenaru River. This is a very educational and moving book describing scenes from World War II.
~ Lori Moore for Reader’s Favorite