Original U.S. WWI “Must Children Die And Mothers Plead In Vain?” Liberty Bond Poster Featuring Artwork By Walter H. Everett - 40” x 30”

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a wonderful example of a hard to find Liberty Bonds poster, published by The Sackett & Wilhelms Corporation N.Y. featuring artwork by Walter H. Everett. During his early career, Everett was a student of Howard Pyle (‘The Father of American Illustration’) at both the Drexel Institute and Brandywine School as well as a contemporary of N.C. Wyeth. Among the first wave of commercial illustrators in America, students taught by Pyle in the Brandywine School are credited with setting the standards for future American illustrators and often attributed key influences on such artists as Maxfield Parrish and Norman Rockwell. Staples of the Brandywine style included taking inspiration from U.S. culture and the artists' personal lives. Students of Pyle were encouraged to train hard, spiritually and artistically, to study first-hand the environments they painted and to utilize authentic props.

Later in his career, Everett helped to found the Philadelphia School of Industrial Art's Illustration Department and was an instructor to Norman Rockwell.

Little is known about Everett's final years, but it is known that he burned a large portion of his works that he considered personal projects. After his death his son, Oliver Everett, discovered a collection of 25-30 original oil paintings on canvas that had been rolled up in a barn on his property. These works remain in the Everett family and are understood to be the largest single collection of Walter H. Everett's work.

This original WWI poster was created by Walter H. Everett and issued in the United States to help promote the sale of Liberty Bonds. The fearsome image is of a mother reaching out as babies cling to her, adding gravity to the posters grim tag line Must Children Die And Mothers Plead In Vain? The answer to her pleas is printed at the bottom with Buy More Liberty Bonds.

The use of women and children as objects of propaganda was common in World War I. Images of women and children in despair was a form of advertising to encourage the American people to support the war. Children were used to disseminate propaganda. The authorities emphasized and played to the huge influence children wielded over their parents.

The poster is worn, rather brittle and will tear easily if not handled with care. There are scattered tears throughout but mostly isolated to the edges and corners. The colors are still easily recognizable and the overall image is still clear. This is one of the most emotional WWI posters, and will look tremendous framed.

Comes ready to frame and display.