Howard Chandler Christy

Howard Chandler Christy
Self portrait
Born(1872-01-10)January 10, 1872
DiedMarch 3, 1952(1952-03-03) (aged 80)
Occupation(s)artist and illustrator
Years active1890–1952
Notable workGee I wish I were a Man I'd Join the Navy, Portrait of Dorothy Barton Thomas, Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, The Christy Girl
Signature

Howard Chandler Christy (January 10, 1872 – March 3, 1952)[2] was an American artist and illustrator. Famous for the "Christy Girl" – a colorful and illustrious successor to the "Gibson Girl" – Christy is also widely known for his iconic WWI military recruitment and Liberty loan posters, along with his 1940 masterpiece titled, Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, which is installed along the east stairwell of the United States Capitol.

From the 1920s until the early 1950s, Christy was active as a portrait painter whose sitters included presidents, senators, industrialists, movies stars, and socialites. He painted Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt, and Presidents Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Harry Truman. Other famous people he painted include William Randolph Hearst, Edward VIII, Eddie Rickenbacker, Benito Mussolini, Prince Umberto, and Amelia Earhart. By 1938, Time magazine described Christy as "the most commercially successful U.S. artist."[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Obit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Birth record: "Howard C. Cristy." (Birth number 1131 of Volume 1, Page 76, of the Birth Records of the Court of Common Pleas of Morgan County, Ohio). The clerk's misspelling of Howard's last name was never corrected. Death record: City of New York Department of Health, Death Certificate for Howard Chandler Christy, No. 156-52-1051.77, filed on March 5, 1952.
  3. ^ "Congress Critics". Time. June 20, 1938.