Object number2015.23.3.4
Wrecked German Plane
Artist
Fletcher Martin
(American, 1904-1979)
CultureAmerican
MediumBrown and black ink on cream wove paper
DimensionsFramed: 16 x 18 in. (40.64 x 45.72 cm)
Image: 8 x 10 in. (20.32 x 25.4 cm)
Image: 8 x 10 in. (20.32 x 25.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of Susan and Steven Hirsch, class of 1971
Period20th c
Classification(s)
Label TextDuring World War II, Fletcher Martin worked as an artist-correspondent for LIFE magazine, sent to battlefields in North Africa and northern France. Martin finished about 200 sketches of his experience on the African front. In its December 27, 1943 issue, LIFE reproduced several of these drawings, including this image of a wrecked German plane in Tunisia. Many artist-correspondents carried cameras alongside their sketchbooks to better capture fast-paced combat. Unfortunately, Martin lost his camera before beginning his assignment in Africa. However, as Martin later wrote, “The loss of my camera made me realize that, for the artist, the photographic document is empty and stultifying as a substitute for a sketch. When I go through the material I gathered on a particular trip and pick up any sketch at random, I can feel the weather, smell the smells, hear the sounds that were there when I made it, no matter how long ago. It is real to me because I lived there a little while, maybe a minute, maybe an hour, but intensely.”
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Fletcher Martin
Culture: American
