Iwo Jima Memorial, by Felix de Weldon 

For this article, Art On The Flight Deck - Part I, I have decided to start with an artist, maybe not too well known today, who created a painting called “To The Attack” in 1943.  At this time in history, Lawrence Beall Smith, American Artist 1909 - 1995, served on board a United States Navy aircraft carrier as a “Combat Artist” and created this masterful work of art.  Smith’s assignment to serve on a naval warship during World War II, arguably the greatest of all wars ever fought by the United States of America, and the beautiful art he produced, is the story I will explore here.

Lawrence Beall Smith, The Abbott Collection, Circa 1943

In 1943, photography was available to capture historic events. If so, why is 34-year-old Smith on assignment to observe and paint scenes of life on board a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier? Paintings that include the daily operations of launching and recovering navy aircraft off and onto a wooden runway, or “the flight deck,” of a navy ship while at sea.  Regardless if these events occurred daily, a carrier launch or landing by its very definition is a dramatic event.  In order to embody the full experience of what it must have been like 79 years ago for the men serving on board or in the cockpit of navy aircrafts, all you need to do is look at the details in Lawrence Smith’s painting, “To The Attack!” What better medium is there than the paint brushes and canvases of a talented artist selected to capture and preserve naval operational events as they occurred in 1943?

To The Attack! Aboard Ship1943, by Lawrence Beall Smith, NHHC Collection

So, how does an artist find his way onto the flight deck of a navy ship during World War II? In this particular case, Smith was hosted by the War Department on a joint venture assignment by the Associated American Artists and Abbott labs. Abbott Labs would be a driving force behind Smith and many other “Combat Artists” assignments during World War II.  This 10-year program was instrumental in funding these artists assignments, as well as in raising donations for the war effort and culminated in hundreds of works of art being delivered to the War Department in 1945.  The Abbott Combat Artist Program is another story worth writing about. 

For Lawrence Smith, his assignment was one where he spent 9 weeks of living on board, observing, painting, and becoming a welcome member of the crew of a navy aircraft carrier!

In fact, this would not be the last time Lawrence Beall-Smith would accept an assignment as a combat artist to paint in an actual war zone!  While researching this artist, I discovered that Smith holds a rare title, shared by few, of being assigned to document the landing of American forces on Omaha Beach during the invasion of Normandy or “D-Day,” on June 6, 1944.  My own grandfather, Joseph Patrick Cooney, would be killed five days later on June 11, 1944, while serving on board the USS Partridge in the English Channel and participating in the invasion. 

To better understand Combat Artists like Lawrence Smith, who have served in actual war zones and taken on these monumental assignments, I had the pleasure to speak to the art department of the Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC) at the Washington Navy Yard, in Washington, D.C.

What I learned from NHHC were details that brought Lawrence Beall Smith, or “LB Smith'' as he’s fondly referred to there, to life for me.  What was even more of a surprise was the fact that a pictorial article on LB Smith’s aircraft carrier assignment had already been published in Collier's Magazine, the January 8, 1944, issue.  Not only was this amazing information to learn, but it was easily produced by NHHC’s art department.  I received a color copy of the article including Vice Admiral John S. McCain, U.S. Navy, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air), thoughts on the “Abbott Collection '' of naval aviation art. 

Now that you have some background on his assignment, let's take a closer look at LB Smith’s painting, “To The Attack!” This beautiful painting is in fact one of my primary inspirations for writing this article.  

So what do we see in this painting?  

You may feel immediate tension just observing what this painting depicts occurring on an aircraft carrier flight deck at sea.  A navy fighter aircraft, a Grumman F4F Wildcat, at full power with men moving alongside as the aircraft accelerates from “Fly One,” the take off spot, and begins its “deck run” towards flight!

There is so much information Smith captures in this work of art.  If you really open your eyes while appreciating this magnificent painting, you will pick up more vividly the colors Smith used to create this dramatic event. The bright colors of a sunlit day at sea; the even brighter yellow jerseys of the Flight Deck Officer and the other aircraft directors; maybe you notice the large, cool shadow of the aircraft carrier’s superstructure or “Island” in the foreground.  The intensity and size of the aircraft propeller depicted by Smith, spinning faster than the eye can see, may even increase your heart rate.  No doubt, I would love to see this actual painting live! 

If I wanted to do so, I would need to be standing in the current Secretary of the Navy’s office.  Another fascinating detail I learned from my conversation with NHHC.

Smith also does a stellar job capturing the wooden planks used to construct flight decks of this era; the metal grates spacers between the planks of the deck, I’m guessing, were used to secure aircraft when parked.  But what makes this painting so much more compelling to me is Smith’s ability to demonstrate the strength of the wind that the Navy Wildcat fighter will use to help lift off from an extremely short runway, and the same wind the Flight Deck Officer (foreground center) and plane directors are fighting against to keep their balance. 

Notice Smith’s use of shadows to reflect the position of the sun high in the sky, and how he beautifully represents the sailors' clothes being whipped violently as the carrier powers into prevailing wind.  Having served on board a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier myself, CVN 68 USS Nimitz (1988 - 1991), I can almost hear the roar of the aircraft engine, smell the exhaust fumes, and feel the flight deck vibrations and the biting force of the wind!  So many other details⏤like the Flight Deck Officer’s checkerboard signal flag, the fast moving clouds above, the wind-blown white caps of the sea⏤all combine to bring the viewer onboard this aircraft carrier in 1943. 

We may not know the exact process LB Smith used to create this beautiful painting and others he did while at sea, as it is no longer an option to speak with him.  Fortunately, I do have the honor to have as a friend, mentor, and master portrait artist, Russell Recchion to ask.  

I have asked Russ to provide us with his professional thoughts on creating paintings from live subjects and scenes, and to offer us his words to describe LB Smith’s flight deck painting:

“My first impression of Lawrence Beall Smith’s painting “To The Attack'' is that the artist chose a scene that captures a powerful event in motion.  I’m not sure if he was given any direction but certainly I can see why he was drawn to paint this scene.  

It’s never a simple task to represent movement in a realism style painting like this one.  Smith's use of colors and brush strokes keenly present a moving propeller at such a high rate of speed that it becomes translucent.  This effect he creates by his use of whites and blurred colors, allows the viewer to look through a spinning propeller.  I even noticed his use of subtle whites to demonstrate air speeding across the far tire and fuselage.  

I also like how centered the navy airplane is in Smith’s painting.  The wings of the airplane span the full horizontal width of the canvas and his use of shadow under each wing, gives the viewer the impression that this aircraft is designed to go flying.  All the  flight crew members encircling the airplane and pilot all have crisp shadows supporting this dramatic scene even more.  

As a professional artist, it’s always a challenge to set up to paint outdoors.  I enjoy plein air painting (out in nature) myself and it takes considerable effort to get paints, canvases and an easel in place to paint.  For Lawrence Smith, the logistics of producing a painting while on an aircraft carrier cruising into the wind would be extremely challenging for the artist at best.  My guess is Smith would make careful drawings and sketches with color notes and take photographs as well. Then when back in the studio he would compose and produce the paintings.

The one maritime painting I know for sure that was painted on the deck of a ship, while crossing the Atlantic in 1867, was the John Singer Sargent painting “Atlantic Storm.''  Here, Sargent did not have to worry about the turning propellers of moving airplanes but instead, he had to contend with the extreme roughness of the sea!  Sargent included just a  small portion of the wooden deck, visible in the painting, as it tapers to the stern of the ship.  He brilliantly captured the movement of the sea in a very dramatic composition, with whitecaps and the wake of the ship trailing though the waves in the distance.  John Singer Sargent was a master of plein air painting, particularly in capturing the mood and light of the moment. I read somewhere he actually tied himself and an easel to the ship’s deck in order to paint this magnificent painting in rough weather and seas.”

  

Atlantic Storm,1867, by John Singer Sargent 

So, there you have it folks! That’s how a professional artist looks at fellow professional artists’ paintings, one that was created almost 80 years ago and one that was created 155 years ago.  Thank you Russ!

In Part II of this article, my focus will shift more onto Russell Recchion, including his own recent works of art⏤a painting he completed in 2021 of a modern-day naval aircraft, the F/A-18 Super Hornet, as it is being catapulted toward flight!

My plan for this next article is to compare LB Smith’s 1943 painting “To The Attack!” with Russ Recchion’s 2021 painting, “Launch ‘Em!”  Both paintings highlight the launch of a naval aircraft off a carrier’s flight deck, and even include a "yellow shirt"⏤in the foreground of each respective painting.  Certainly, as can be seen, there have been some drastic changes to flight deck operations and navy aircraft since Lawrence Beall Smith’s painting during World War II!

For the readers, I hope you enjoyed meeting L.B. Smith.  Please add any thoughts, comments or questions, and email to john@fullsailfineart.com.  I will do my best to respond and with your permission, possibly include your thoughts and comments in my next article. Thank you for reading.

Farewell and Fair winds for now,

John Cooney, LCDR, USN