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Heather Bourgeois
American artists are often influenced by many factors while they create their art. Whether social, historical, religious, economic or political, the art they create reflects the needs and sentiments of the time. Howard Chandler Christy’s illustration titled ‘Clear-the-Way!! Buy Bonds-Fourth Liberty Loan, exemplifies the need for domestic support during the Great War and how everyone contributed to the war, even artists, by creating illustrations for war posters.
In the upper left quadrant of the piece is the slogan ‘CLEAR THE WAY!!’, which is centered and takes up a majority of the top part of the piece. Also, the text for ‘BUY BONDS- FOURTH LIBERTY LOANS’ is there as well. In dark blue letters, it stands out against the pale blue and greens of the ocean. In the bottom two quadrants of the foreground, the strong navy men are clustered, holding onto and working on a huge piece of machinery. The angled tip of the machinery points in the left direction, which is the same direction that the Christy girl’s right arm is held out to. The Christy girl, who is the vocal point of the piece, is in the upper and lower right quadrants of the piece, where she stands tall, like a goddess. Her arm is out and her mouth is open, calling on the people to buy bonds and support the troops. Her posture calls for help, desire and lust. She looks as though she might be singing or trying to woo the troops, or the American public, and she does just that.
Christy’s ‘Clear the way!!’ is an important piece aesthetically because it successfully implements all of the principles and elements of design. The first element of design, form, is used throughout the piece in the use of figures. From the lush body of the Christy girl to the strong, masculine bodies of the fighting navy men, the figures symbolize important gender roles of the time. The Christy form is curvaceous and leaning in a seductive way. She has luscious beige skin and a light colored nightgown style dress, and curly blond hair In a romantic cut. The sweeping flag behind her represents her role as a seductive female and the epitome of every soldier’s ‘dream girl’.
American artists are often influenced by many factors while they create their art. Whether social, historical, religious, economic or political, the art they create reflects the needs and sentiments of the time. Howard Chandler Christy’s illustration titled ‘Clear-the-Way!! Buy Bonds-Fourth Liberty Loan, exemplifies the need for domestic support during the Great War and how everyone contributed to the war, even artists, by creating illustrations for war posters.
In the upper left quadrant of the piece is the slogan ‘CLEAR THE WAY!!’, which is centered and takes up a majority of the top part of the piece. Also, the text for ‘BUY BONDS- FOURTH LIBERTY LOANS’ is there as well. In dark blue letters, it stands out against the pale blue and greens of the ocean. In the bottom two quadrants of the foreground, the strong navy men are clustered, holding onto and working on a huge piece of machinery. The angled tip of the machinery points in the left direction, which is the same direction that the Christy girl’s right arm is held out to. The Christy girl, who is the vocal point of the piece, is in the upper and lower right quadrants of the piece, where she stands tall, like a goddess. Her arm is out and her mouth is open, calling on the people to buy bonds and support the troops. Her posture calls for help, desire and lust. She looks as though she might be singing or trying to woo the troops, or the American public, and she does just that.
Christy’s ‘Clear the way!!’ is an important piece aesthetically because it successfully implements all of the principles and elements of design. The first element of design, form, is used throughout the piece in the use of figures. From the lush body of the Christy girl to the strong, masculine bodies of the fighting navy men, the figures symbolize important gender roles of the time. The Christy form is curvaceous and leaning in a seductive way. She has luscious beige skin and a light colored nightgown style dress, and curly blond hair In a romantic cut. The sweeping flag behind her represents her role as a seductive female and the epitome of every soldier’s ‘dream girl’.