history of illustration essays

history of illustration essays Throughout time, illustration has been a source of visualizing thoughts and ideas, and has also been a way to sway the public in terms of beliefs and trends. These trends, created within the many genres in illustration, have taken on quite an important position in the art world in the 20th century. It was in this time that illustration reached fruition, and many of the illustrators received the notoriety which had been lacking until this time period. In illustration, there are many groups, or genres, with many different styles and trends which are used to convey the thoughts of the artist. These genres include humor, the conceptual, illustration for children's books, imaginative, realistic, technical and surreal. In 1901, the Society of Illustrators was established to help gain respect for the artists who practiced this craft. A group of nine artists and one advising businessman founded the Society. The society found intself involved in a lot of the political movements throughout the 20th century history of America and actually created the famous "I Want You" illustration where Uncle Sam was used an an icon to promote recruitment for the wars. During the years surrounding WWI, Society members worked through the Division of Pictorial Publicity creating many original poster designs. Eight members, commissioned Captains in the Engineers, were sent to France to sketch the war. After the war, the Society operated the School for Disabled Soldiers. Member shows continued at prominent galleries. In the 20's and 30's was when the Illustrators gained their highest level of fame. It was in this period that many exhibitions were held to display the artwork of the illustrators. Through member Watson Barrett, the Illustrators' Show of 1925 was held at the Shubert Theatre. 1981 saw the establishment of the Museum of American Illustration. Today the Museum possesses 1,500 works of art by such legen ...