Grant Reynard and World War II: Images from the Home Front A MONA Moment By Ron Roth Director Museum of Nebraska Art

Grant Reynard was born and raised in Grand Island, Nebraska. He attended the Chicago Art Institute, and launched a career as one of America's outstanding magazine and book illustrators. His work appeared in the leading national publications of his day-The Saturday Evening Post, Harper's Bazaar, Scribners and many others.

Reynard was foremost a witty and sensitive observer of people. Constantly with sketchbook in hand, he sketched, painted and drew Americans in a variety of activities. What captures one's imagination in his work is the sense of humor, wry observation and compassion for humanity. At his best, his draftsmanship and compositional brilliance elevate his work to exceptional aesthetic standards.

A new ARTreach traveling exhibition organized by the Museum of Nebraska Art features original illustrations by Reynard executed over the period of World War II. They illustrate key themes of the impact of the war on the American home front. The exhibition provides a nostalgic and compelling glimpse of American life during one of the most dramatic eras in our history.

Reynard executed most of the illustrations included in this exhibition between 1944 and 1946. They are, for the most part, the original art work for Inside Manhattan, an illustrated column he produced for the New York newspaper, P.M. Reynard also wrote the copy for these columns. Taken together, the illustrations and writing complement each other with light hearted, wry observations, both visual and literary.

Here is how he characterized his work for Inside Manhattan:

"All New York is a stage, a cockeyed spanking pageant of strange and tragic and funny people. From her rickety shacks to her giant shafts of steel and cement that needle the clouds, she's slam packed with folks who are making news and history. What a swarm of models she holds. There are seven million of them. I can't draw them all but I am trying."

His untitled ink drawing of a group of soldiers on a train platform somewhere talking and passing time with a "Victory Girl", typifies Reynard's skill in deftly and quickly capturing the flavor of a brief, telling moment. The strength and sureness Reynard's line in suggesting realism, and his instinctive ability to choose scenes to which people could relate gave his illustrations the ring of truth. By the way, "Victory Girls" were young women who volunteered at USO canteens to talk and pass the time with soldiers and sailors in transit.

World War II was the era of war rallies and parades designed to promote patriotism and the sale of war bonds. These events and the multitude of opportunities they provided for his sketchbook fascinated Reynard. It was perhaps at one of these rallies in New York that Reynard caught a glimpse of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and quickly sketched a pencil drawing. Reynard's masterful feel for composition and design is especially evident here. There is also an element of what we might call the "Reynard touch," his subtle visual wit: the vastly popular, bigger than life president, here small and engulfed in a sea of umbrellas.

Reynard loved drawing couples. Whether it was lunch I the sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art, or sneaking a kiss on top of a tenement house, an engaging gallery of young men and women courting in a variety of venues. Reynard was especially sensitive to the dynamics of the moment. The electricity bet and the woman at the bar in an untitled pencil drawing is palpable. The bow of her hat seemed to flutter; her face is animated, lively, but coolly in control. The sailor's body language is clear and unmistakable. The moment is alive with electricity.