Howard Brodie

Howard Brodie
Born	(1915-11-18)November 18, 1915 Oakland, California,United States
Died	September 19, 2010(2010-09-19)(aged 94)
Alma mater	California School of Fine Arts
Occupation	Sketch artist
Employers	San Francisco Chronicle US Army

Howard Brodie(November 18, 1915 – September 19, 2010) was asketch artistbest known for hisWorld War II,Korean and Vietnam combat and courtroom sketches. He worked as a staff artist forLife, Yank Magazine, Collier's, Associated PressandCBS News.

Pre-war career

Brodie was born inOakland, California,United States, on November 18, 1915. He briefly attendedCalifornia School of Fine Arts,San Francisco.WhenWorld War IIstarted, Howard Brodie was a sports artist for theSan Francisco Chronicle.Brodie also enjoyed success as an illustrator of college football program covers.

Combat sketches

Brodie's 1945 sketch of a Rifle Company Medic, "Portrait of a Medic"

With entry of the United States intoWorld War II,Brodie enlisted in the Army. He became one ofYankmagazine's best-known artists during the war. He sketched everything fromGuadalcanalto theBattle of the Bulge(particularly theMalmedy massacre), and had an uncanny ability to capture the emotions of his subjects and record a scene with great attention to detail.

He put himself in combat situations many times and, while he never carried a weapon, worked as a medic when needed. He received theBronze Starfor valor.

About his war experiences and the differences he felt between WW2 correspondents and correspondents in the Vietnam war, Howard Brodie told the audience during a panel discussion given on the 18 September 1995 at the American University's School of Communication, the following anecdote. During the Vietnam War, as he was returning to the press camp at the rear of the front, he started a conversation with another correspondent to which he protested against American troops executing prisoners. The correspondent showed him photographs of Viet-Cong prisoners being shot in the neck and when Brodie protested again, he said “all wars have had their brutality”. Brodie responded “the hell they have because in WW2 there were isolated cases but not like this”. Brodie felt that in WW2 “there was much more of a feel of compassion among war correspondents”.

Courtroom sketches

After the war Brodie became a courtroom artist and recorded many famous trials, including those of theChicago Seven,Charles MansonandGeneral Westmoreland,theRuby trialand Senate Civil Rights Debates. He was also aCBSTV Artist-Correspondent during which time he produced illustrations of U.S. SenatorRobert Kennedy's assassinSirhan Sirhan,and Supreme Court JusticeThurgood Marshall.Brodie never fully severed his ties to the military and was a combat artist inKorea,French Indochina,andVietnam.His works can be found in theLibrary of Congress.

Commissioned works in popular movies

His first-hand experience of conflicts led to him working for several war movies such as Lewis Milestone's 1959Pork Chop Hill,John Wayne's 1968Green Berets,and Francis Ford Coppola'sApocalypse Now.

Famous works

Two of Brodie's most famous works are "Portrait of a Medic", which appeared on the cover of Yank Magazine, and "Compassion". Another sketch, which depicted an exhaustedG.I.dropping his rifle asWorld War IIended, appeared on the cover of Yank’s Continental Edition on August 19, 1945. Brodie's works are collected inDrawing Fire: A Combat Artist at War Pacific Europe Korea Indochina Vietnamand can also be seen in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress, the New Britain Museum of American Art, and the San Francisco Olympic Club..

AsThe New York Timeshas stated, "His sketch of the black militant Bobby Seale gagged and strapped to his chair became the image that epitomized the trial of the Chicago Seven, the leaders of protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention."

External links

• They Drew Fire: Combat Artists of World War II: Howard Brodie
• Online NewsHour interview with Brodie