Illustrator Research - James Montgomery Flagg

James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960) was an American artist and illustrator. He worked in many media, from fine art painting to cartooning, but is best known for his propaganda posters. Ever since Flagg was a child he was interested in art and drawing. At the age of 12, he had had illustrations accepted by national magazines (wow!). He was a contributing artist to Life magazine by 14, and the next year he was on the staff for the magazine Judge. From 1894-1898, he attended the Art Students League of New York. From 1898-1900, he studied fine art in London and Paris. When he returned to the U.S., he produced many illustrations for books, magazine covers, political and humorous cartoons, and advertising. From 1903-1907, he had a comic strip that appeared regularly in Judge about a character named Nervy Nat.

His most famous work was made in 1917, which encouraged recruitment to the U.S. Army for World War I. He is the man who made the famous Uncle Sam poster. Over four million copies of that poster were printed during World War I, and it was revived again in World War II. He actually used his face as his model for Uncle Sam and just added the goatee and old age (so that he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of arranging for a model).

I actually have this one in my living room at home. Now I can tell my mom who this is by! :D