“Your Boy and the Great Adventure”
Now, we go back over 100 years to 1918…
“Your Boy and the Great Adventure” is a watercolor illustration by the American artist, Coles Phillips. This was made for the cover of McCall’s Magazine in June of 1918, just before the end of the Great War, today known as World War I. Phillips became very famous in his lifetime, known for his signature “fade-away girl”. He was also the first to use the art deco style with advertising design.
In this piece, Phillips depicts a woman and man saying goodbye to each other. The woman is dressed in a full white silk wedding gown. The dress has long sleeves of see-through lace. A decorated lace veil covers the top of her head and falls to the floor behind her. The ankle length hem of the dress allows her stylish shoes to show. The man is in a full United States Army uniform with a peaked cap. A suitcase sits on the ground next to the soldier’s feet, suggesting his imminent departure. The couple is silhouetted by the moon with a simple blue background. Phillips name is written in capital letters at the bottom right, at the bottom of the suitcase. Coles Phillips was one of the first artists to insist his name appear on all his work, including his advertisements.
The article was written by Robert Davis, the official American Red Cross Inspector who was stationed in Europe at that time. In it, he discusses his feelings on how the American men, many of European descent, were returning to Europe for the first time to be involved in a European war. It is written to the mothers and wives of the soldiers, assuring the women at home of their men’s bravery in the face of conflict and war of unseen proportions. The entirety of this magazine issue can be perused online here, at internet archive, and is quite interesting to look through.
Phillips was one of the artists at the forefront of social change who helped modernize the image of the ideal American woman. Previously, in the late nineteenth century, the ideal American woman was depicted as a prim and proper Gibson girl type, as made famous by Charles Dana Gibson. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the American woman’s image changed to a more modern, fun, and chic representation.
Phillips captured this new image in his illustrations and their widespread audience really helped American culture embrace the new twentieth century woman. His work graced the covers of magazines and advertisements, showing the new, more modern American woman. He only ever drew from life, refusing to draw from photographs.
“Your Boy and the Great Adventure” is the cover of Volume 45, Issue 10 of McCall’s Magazine. It was published on June 1, 1918. Several of the covers of this magazine during 1918 featured artwork about the Great War. I could not find the location of the original painting, so it is likely in a private collection. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know!
For more on Coles Phillips, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
