Among Friends

Artist Ardis Hughes has a true passion for illustration, and spent much of his early career creating images to inspire Americans to contribute to the war effort for World War II. He and his art agent, Phyllis Cook, Pembroke Class of 1943, have recently donated four pieces of his artwork to the Brown University Library.

A native of Oneonta, New York, Mr. Hughes studied art at the Pratt Institute in New York City from 1931-1934. After graduating from the Pratt Institute, he apprenticed with acclaimed illustrator Saul Tepper. He earned his living doing freelance illustrations, and working for Esquire Publications, including Esquire magazine, and for a New York advertising agency.

In 1942, he received his draft letter and was sent to Fort Belvoir, outside Washington, D.C., for basic training with the Corps of Engineers. While in the camp, he joined an art program and began to paint murals of soldiers training, to be hung on the walls of the barracks and recreational buildings. The right people recognized his artistic talent and the Treasury Department assigned him to make war bond posters for the duration of the war.

The poster pictured here is the original watercolor design of one of the war bonds posters designed by Mr. Hughes. It was reproduced in Smithsonian magazine in February 2002.

Peter Harrington, curator of Brown University Library's Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, originally contacted Mr. Hughes because he wanted information about the art program that ran at Fort Belvoir from 1942 until 1944. "That is how we learned about the Military Collection," said Phyllis Cook. "We were trying to think of what to do with his artwork, and did not want to sell it to a private collector. We felt that Brown University would be an excellent repository."

"I have closets full of art. There are sketches and paintings that I've done throughout the world," said Ardis Hughes. "I was certainly very glad that Brown University was interested in them." Mr. Hughes, 91, is still active as a painter of landscapes and portraits.

"We decided to donate four poster designs to the Military Collection, as a start," said Cook. "Two are oils and the other two are opaque watercolors."

The two poster designs in oil currently hang in the gallery of the Military Collection, located in the John Hay Library. For more information about the Anne S.K Brown Military Collection or to schedule an appointment to view the watercolors, please contact Curator Peter Harrington at Peter_Harrington@Brown.edu or (401) 863-2414.