McClelland Barclay Rare Oversize 11/14 Photo Famous Illustrator Wife Helene MGM

Description: Here is an extremely rare very early vintage original oversize 11" by 14" photo of celebrated magazine illustrator and movie and WWII poster artist McClelland Barclay (1891 – 1943), who died at sea during WWII, and his wife, world-famous model and actress Helen (Haskins) Barclay (1911-1980), from the early 1930s. With original studio tag. (This is the second and last of this photo that I have.) See tag for more information on Helen Barclay's career. After her divorce from McClelland Barclay, she married celebrate cinematagrapher Gregg Toland. McClelland Barclay was an American illustrator. By the age of 21, Barclay's work had been published in The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, and Cosmopolitan. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve in 1938 and following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor he went on active duty. At the time of his death, in 1943, he was a Lt. Commander. During World War I, Barclay was awarded a prize by the Committee on National Preparedness in 1917 for his poster "Fill the Breach." The next year, he designed naval camouflage under the direction of William Mackay, Chief of the New York District of the Emergency Fleet Corporation. During the 1920s and 1930s, Barclay's images were selected for use by art directors for the nation's most popular periodicals including Collier's, Country Gentleman, Redbook, Pictorial Review, Coronet, Country Life, The Saturday Evening Post, The Ladies' Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, and a host of movie magazines. During the 1930s, he began painting movie poster art for Hollywood studios, including Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox. Barclay was considered a superstar in the film industry during the late 1930s and early 1940s. Barclay was one of the first artists to paint World War II pin-up girl, Betty Grable. In 1930, the General Motors Corporation selected Barclay's "Fisher Body Girl" for a series of advertisements, and she quickly became as popular as "The Gibson Girl" and "The Christy Girl". He used his second wife Helene, 19 years old, as the model for the iconic Fisher Autobody image. Helene later appeared in magazine advertisements and was so well published with her languid body plastered across the country on billboards, that she was recognized wherever she went. He also illustrated advertisements for A&P, Eaton Paper Company, Elgin Watches, Humming Bird Hosiery, and Lever Brothers, amongst others. He also illustrated advertisements for Whitman's Chocolates, Texaco, and Camel and Chesterfield brand cigarettes. Because Barclay was known for his illustrations of "striking women", he earned a judging position at the Miss America 1935 pageant. Barclay did not limit himself to painting. In the late 1930s, he set up a small company to reproduce jewelry and fabricate utilitarian figures for ashtrays, bookends, desk sets, lamps, and other articles for home and office use. These products were fabricated out of cast grey metal with a thick bronze plate finish and they retailed for just a few dollars. The company, which he named the McClelland Barclay Arts Products Corporation, made him little money. In 1944, a year after his death, Barclay was awarded the Art Directors Club Medal, "in recognition of his long and distinguished record in editorial illustration and advertising art and in honor of his devotion and meritorious service to his country as a commissioned officer of the United States Navy." He was also posthumously inducted in the Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame. In June 1938, he was appointed Assistant Naval Constructor with the US Naval Reserve. In mid-1940, Barclay prepared experimental dazzle camouflage designs for Navy combat aircraft, but evaluation tests revealed that pattern camouflage was of little use for aircraft. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Barclay completed the first of many recruiting posters for the Navy. In October 19, 1940, Barclay reported for active duty. He served in the New York Recruiting office, illustrating posters for the next two and a half years. These images would become some of the most recognizable recruiting images of World War II. Barclay was determined to be a front-line combat artist. In March 1943, he told the San Francisco Examiner, "A camera cannot catch the human element of a fight, the sweat and blood and courage our boys expend every time they face the enemy." In 1941 he volunteered for this position, but was rejected. Eventually he would serve in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters on the USS Arkansas (BB-33), USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), USS Honolulu (CL-48), and the USS Maryland (BB-46). Promoted to Lt. Commander, Barclay worked on further assignments until July 18, 1943, when he was reported as missing in action. The USS LST-342 he was aboard was torpedoed in the Solomon Islands. On board, sketching and taking photographs at the time, Barclay's body was not recovered. Barclay was awarded the Purple Heart Medal posthumously. He was also awarded the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal; the American Area Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal. Corner creasing, crease left side, minor fading, minor corner and edge wear, minor scuffs and marks. Extremely rare. Will ship worldwide. I always combine shipping on multiple orders. Helen Barclay's Filmography: Grace Moore in Love Me Forever (1935)Love Me ForeverCheck-Room Girl (uncredited)1935 Jimmy Durante, Sally Eilers, and Lee Tracy in Carnival (1935)CarnivalNurse (uncredited)1935 Carole Lombard, Roger Pryor, and May Robson in Lady by Choice (1934)Lady by ChoiceSecretary (uncredited)1934 Ricardo Cortez and Kay Francis in The House on 56th Street (1933)The House on 56th StreetSextet Girl (uncredited)1933 Relativity and Relatives(as Helene Barclay)Short1931

Price: 194.99 USD

Location: Marietta, Georgia

End Time: 2023-12-15T02:00:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 4.5 USD