Visions of a World at War

This week, although I still have a number of chapters of elementary math terms to index, the real interest is in a coffee table book on the work of painter/illustrator/writer Tom Lea. Texas A&M Press is doing up this book that pulls together the El Paso native's artistic work and writing from his WWII adventures as a Life magazine correspondent. Life actually believed in the value of combat art in addition to its addiction to fine photography to capture an experience. And Tom Lea was the perfect agent for that attitude. He bonded with the men on board ships in the North Atlantic and South Pacific, and with troops in North Africa and Europe, portraying their triumphs and tragedies, and more importantly, their daily lives, both in his paintings and his diary and other writings. His paintings are strikingly realistic in a time when abstraction was the artistic rule. The impact is very "in your face." He does not spare us the horror of war by any stretch, nor does he forget the nobility of the warrior.

As you can tell, I'm really enjoying this material. Just gotta make sure I index it, too!