World War II Drawings

This second self-portrait was created by the artist in 1940 at the age of 21, a few months before he was drafted into the U.S. Army.  His parent's homeland of Poland had been invaded by Nazi Germany the year before - and nine months after his enlistment, Pearl Harbor was attacked.  The U.S. declared war on Japan and Germany as World War II reached global proportions.  Vincent was stationed stateside until 1943, then transferred to the Pacific Theater of Operations to fight against Japan as an Air Force gunner in the Philippines and Okinawa.

The drawings presented here were created during downtime - but the anguish of war had left its indelible mark on Vincent's soul.  Deeply buried wounds of PTSD would eventually erupt into full existential crisis in his early thirties. His most unusual art is created at that time, with examples presented in the "Fusionism" gallery on this website.  Smarkusz had entered the U.S. Army in the spring of 1941.  When he returned home in Jan. 1946, he resumed his studies at Hartford Art School, and exhibited his drawings to high reviews.  James Johnson Sweeney's review

Smarkusz drew this extremely detailed scene in ink.  It is of fellow soldiers enjoying downtime in the sub-tropical environment of the Ryukyu Islands.  The Battle of Okinawa was about to unfold however, as the most fierce engagement with the Japanese in WWII.  So ferocious were the armaments involved, that it later became infamously named "The Typhoon of Steel".

Smarkusz quickly drew this scene of soldiers offloading not only arms, ammunition, and food, but also great quantities of construction material and barrels of fuel onto the shore of a nearby island.

The planning and execution of the invasion of Okinawa - codenamed "Operation Iceberg" - presented logistical problems of a magnitude greater than any previously encountered in the Pacific.  For the assault echelon alone, about 183,000 troops and 747,000 tons of cargo were loaded into over 430 assault transports and landing ships at 11 different ports.

Soldiers unloading lumber and fuel on a beachhead in the Ryukyu Islands during the Spring of 1945.

This close-up portion of the drawing is about the actual size of the section shown.  The fineness of detail is incredible considering our soldier artist was using his pocketknife to sharpen an ordinary pencil.  He also had to work extremely quickly as air raid drills would pull him back to his post as an aerial gunner at any moment.  Fellow soldiers appreciated his talent, and Vincent often gave sketches to them.
 

"Mr. Smarkusz will record with bright and loving care every rock, every shock of grass, every footprint in the muddle of tracks on the sand, the tiny pool of water. The welter of objects stacked within, above, around, and below, will be drawn with infinite detail, a curiosity about every texture, with a fondness for every fold, and a response to every shape and form.  At the same time, the sum total of Mr. Smarkusz's work transcends the sheer craftsmanship with which he so excellently renders and constructs, even when his tools are only a fountain pen or pencil stub." ~ James Johnson Sweeney, director of MoMA in NYC, 1946.

This is a detail of "Break", a lithographic print of fellow soldiers cooling down during basic training.  Smarkusz created it in his first year home after the war.  There is a subtle allegory to this image.  To explore its meaning and to see how symbolism also begins to emerge in Vincent's art, please read  Interpreting "Break"
 

In addition to his accentuation of posture and facial expression, used to emphasize the deep subjectivity of his figures, Smarkusz also used his way of drawing hands and feet to express subtle human emotions and attitudes.

This lithigraphic print was created by the artist after returning to New Britain, CT after the war.  It depicts him on the train with a fellow G.I. and friend, back to the Little Poland neighborhood from which they came.  It also hints at Vincent's early signs of PTSD and the serious depression he would suffer in reaction to the war.
 

The Hartford Art School held its classes in the Avery Memorial building of the Wadsworth Atheneum, the oldest continually operating public art museum in the United States.  The Atheneum in Hartford and the Museum of Modern Art in NYC collaborated on many projects together, including several WWII related programs, during and immediately following the war. James Johnson Sweeney, the director of MoMA at the time, was visiting Hartford when he saw the drawings of Smarkusz on display at the Avery. The complete Hartford Courant article from May 10, 1946, which includes a glowing endorsement of Smarkusz's war drawings from MoMA director Sweeney can be read by clicking HERE.

Original home of the Hartford Art School where Smarkusz studied from 1938 to 1940, and from 1946 to 1949.  The first Surrealist exhibit in the U.S. was held there in 1931, and the first U.S. retrospective of Picasso in 1934.