They've Got the Guts/Give Em More Firepower
Artist
Dean Cornwell
Date1943
Dimensions28 1/4 x 39 in. (71.8 x 99.1 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LineGift of Peter A. Blatz
Object numberPH.235
DescriptionThis poster, issued by the federal government’s Ordnance Department, encourages workers in munitions factories to keep up the supply of ammunition for soldiers in the front lines. It shows an American soldier firing a rifle in the foreground while another lands in a parachute on the battlefield beside him; many other parachuters are seen landing in the background. A variant of this poster has the tagline “They’ve got the GUTS/Back ‘Em Up with More Metal” and Cornwell’s original oil painting for the composition was sold at auction at Christie’s in September 2008. Dean Cornwell was known at the height of his fame in the mid-20th century as “the Dean of illustrators.” He had trained at the Art Students League in New York, and like many of the designers who worked for federal agencies during World War II, he already had an established career as a commercial illustrator, producing advertisements for companies like Coca-Cola, Palmolive soap, and General Motors, and illustrations for such popular magazines as LIFE, Redbook, Harper’s Bazaar, and Good Housekeeping. He made numerous painted designs for posters during World War II in support of the war effort, all in the traditional style favored by the Office of War Information.On View
Not on view
