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Home>Exhibitions>Past>1947>Men of Action of the Naval Services, World War II

Men of Action of the Naval Services, World War II

November 23 – December 14, 1947
Ground Floor, Central Gallery

Installation view of Men of Action of the Naval Services, World War II, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gallery Archives

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

Overview: This group of war portraits of naval services personnel was painted by 3 official combat artists during and after World War II, in the principal theaters of action. The works were intended as a historic record and for eventual installation in the proposed National Museum of Military and Naval History.

The opening was attended by President and Mrs. Harry Truman and their daughter Margaret. The President remarked that this was the kind of art he liked best, what he could understand.