Wartime Paintings of the Army Air Forces

This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: More than 100 works were shown, painted or sketched in the field, of the pilots, planes, and worldwide combat operations of the Army Air Forces (AAF) as part of their historical record. 7 professional artists, then in the AAF, executed these pictures in the course of regular army assignments in various war theaters.

A special feature was a group of more than 60 air force portraits of aces, combat heroes, commanding generals of different outfits, and outstanding ground crew. Also shown were operational pictures of air force activities, scenes at air bases at home and abroad, and studies of combat planes in flight.