C. C. Beall

C. C. Beall
C. C. Beall poster for the Seventh War Loan Drive (May 14 – June 30, 1945)
Born	October 15, 1892 Saratoga, Wyoming, United States
Died	1967 (aged 74–75) United States
Nationality	American
Style	Commercial illustrator, portrait artist
Spouse(s)	Mildred Muriel Hall

Cecil Calvert (C. C.) Beall (1892–1967)^[1] was an American commercial illustrator and portrait artist. He did watercolor art and drawings for magazines and comic books. Beall designed promotion posters for the U.S. government for war loan drives and propaganda.

Early life

Beall was born on October 15, 1892, in Saratoga, Wyoming, with the given name Cecil Calvert. His parents were Charles W. Beall and Eugenia N. Beall. He had a brother who was a year older, Roger.^[2]

Education

Beall received tutoring from the Canadian-American painter George Brant Bridgman at the Art Students League in New York City.^[2] While there he displayed his artwork and drawings at exhibits of the Society of Illustrators.^[3] Beall also attended Pratt Institute to learn the art of watercolor painting and poster drawing.^[2]

Career

General MacArthur, surrender WWII on USS Missouri – painting by C.C. Beall

Beall did work for many of the leading periodicals of the twentieth century. His watercolor style was in a type of bold contrasting reflections, which was popular at the time. Some Meredith magazines that he produced paintings and colored drawings for included Collier's, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, Woman's Home Companion, Saturday Evening Post, American Family Circle, and This Week.^[4] He also painted covers for Elks Magazine^[5][6] and Reader's Digest books.^[4]

Beall's 1936 painting of President Roosevelt for Collier's cover page led to the position as art director for the Democratic National Committee.^[7] Beall was temporarily an employee of the U. S. War Department.^[8] At the same time, he was also a correspondent-artist for several magazines, including Collier's, and painted portraits of decorated war heroes. Beall was an eyewitness to the 1945 official Japanese surrender on the U.S.S. Missouri.^[2] He painted General MacArthur at the event; his work later became the official portrait.^[9][10]

Roosevelt drawing by Beall for poster to promote U.S. Victory Bonds

Posters

Beall's 1945 Treasury poster painting of Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the replacement American flag on Iwo Jima was used for the war campaign in the Seventh Loan drive.^[11][12] He claimed he didn't change any of the lines in the original photograph, but merely colorized it.^[13][14] It was put on track to be the most displayed picture in history.^[15] The loan promotion brought in more than $26 billion in 6 weeks' time to help end World War II. The original American flag put up on Mount Suribachi was taken down as a memento. The total fund raised for all eight War Bond drives was $156 billion.^[16][17]

Beall's original drawing of U.S. President Roosevelt that was used for the World War II $200 E Bond was given to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt. The poster from this art work was labeled "In The Strength Of Great Hope We Must Shoulder Our Common Load." The formal presentation in October 1945 from Beall was in Washington, D.C. with the director of the Office of War Finance, Ted R. Gamiie. ^[18]

Family

Beall married Mildred Muriel Hall in 1920. They had three children. Their two daughters have no genealogy records on them. Their son was Charles Calvert Beall (1921–1983).^[19]

Society memberships

• American Water Color Society
• Hudson Valley Art Association
• Society of Illustrators
• Salmagundi Club

References

1. "7th War Loan : now--all together". UNT Digital Library. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
2. Reed 2001, p. 208.
3. "Notable Exhibit by Illustrators". Democrat and Chronicle (p. 17) (Rochester, New York). January 7, 1922 – via Newspapers.com .
4. Falk 1985, p. 41.
5. "Elks Magazine Began 30 years ago in June". Oneonta Star (p. 47) (Oneonta, New York). May 28, 1952 – via Newspapers.com .
6. "To mark the 100thanniversary of Lincoln;s assassination". Gettysburg Times (p. 13) (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania). April 22, 1965 – via Newspapers.com .
7. "The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula". Fort Missoula Museum. 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
8. Chenoweth 2003, p. 359.
9. Duke 2012, p. 21.
10. Chenoweth 2003, p. 181.
11. "Suribachi Flag Raising to be Official Symbol of Seventh War Loan". Freeport Journal-Standard (p. 3) (Freeport, Illinois). March 26, 1945 – via Newspapers.com .
12. Lyons, Leonard (November 17, 1945). "The Lyon's Den". Amarillo Daily News (Amarillo, Texas) – via Newspapers.com .
13. "Flag Raising Picture to Spur 7th Drive". The Emporia Gazette (p. 4) (Emporia, Kansas). March 26, 1945 – via Newspapers.com .
14. "Rosethal photo is official symbol". The Nebraska State Journal (p. 8) (Lincoln, Nebraska). March 25, 1945 – via Newspapers.com .
15. "Suribachi Pictureto be Loan Symbol". The Bismarck Tribune (p. 3) (Bismark, North Dakota). March 26, 1945 – via Newspapers.com .
16. "Brief History of World War Two Advertising Campaigns War Loans and Bonds". Duke University Libraries. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
17. Aulich 2007, p. 11.
18. "Mrs. Roosevelt receives drawing". Beatrice Daily Sun (p. 1) (Beatrice, Nebraska). October 26, 1945 – via Newspapers.com .
19. "Cecil Calvert Beall". Family Trees. Ancestry.com. 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2016.

Bibliography

• Aulich, James (2007). War Posters: Weapons of Mass Communication. New York: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-251416.
• Chenoweth, H. Avery (2003). Art of war. New York: Barnes & Noble Publisher. ISBN 0760748284.
• Duke, Sara (2012). Cartoonists & Illustrators in Swann Collection. DC Comics.
• Falk, Peter H. (1985). Who was who in American art. Sound View Press. ISBN 978-0-932087-00-3.
• Reed, Walt (2001). Illustrator in America, 1860–2000. Illustrators Society. ISBN 978-0-942604-80-1.

External links

• More paintings by Beall