Howard Brodie
Howard Brodie | |
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Born | California School of Fine Arts | November 18, 1915
Occupation | Sketch artist |
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Howard Brodie (November 18, 1915 – September 19, 2010) was a sketch artist best known for his World War II, Korean and Vietnam combat and courtroom sketches. He worked as a staff artist for Life, Yank Magazine, Collier's, Associated Press and CBS News.[1]
Pre-war career
Brodie was born in
Combat sketches
With entry of the United States into World War II, Brodie enlisted in the Army. He became one of Yank magazine's best-known artists during the war. He sketched everything from Guadalcanal to the Battle of the Bulge (particularly the Malmedy massacre), and had an uncanny ability to capture the emotions of his subjects and record a scene with great attention to detail.[1]
He put himself in combat situations many times and, while he never carried a weapon, worked as a medic when needed. He received the Bronze Star for valor.[2]
About his war experiences and the differences he felt between WW2 correspondents and correspondents in the Vietnam war, Howard Brodie told the audience during a panel discussion given on the 18 September 1995 at the American University's School of Communication, the following anecdote. During the Vietnam War, as he was returning to the press camp at the rear of the front, he started a conversation with another correspondent to which he protested against American troops executing prisoners. The correspondent showed him photographs of Viet-Cong prisoners being shot in the neck and when Brodie protested again, he said “all wars have had their brutality”. Brodie responded “the hell they have because in WW2 there were isolated cases but not like this”. Brodie felt that in WW2 “there was much more of a feel of compassion among war correspondents”.[1]
Courtroom sketches
After the war Brodie became a courtroom artist and recorded many famous trials, including those of the
Commissioned works in popular movies
His first-hand experience of conflicts led to him working for several war movies such as Lewis Milestone's 1959 Pork Chop Hill, John Wayne's 1968 Green Berets, and Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.[4][5]
Famous works
Two of Brodie's most famous works are "Portrait of a Medic", which appeared on the cover of Yank Magazine, and "Compassion". Another sketch, which depicted an exhausted
As The New York Times has stated, "His sketch of the black militant Bobby Seale gagged and strapped to his chair became the image that epitomized the trial of the Chicago Seven, the leaders of protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention."[2]
Notes
- ^ a b c "Reporting World War II | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ a b William Grimes (September 24, 2010). "Howard Brodie, 94, Combat and Courtroom Artist, Dies". The New York Times.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ "Howard Brodie – Society of Illustrators". Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ Beitiks, Edvins (2000-05-28). "Drawing from life - and death". SFGATE. Retrieved 2023-01-21.