Lot 203
B-17 Bomber Painted by Fritz Willis, Gift of Studio Head Jack Warner to Lt. General Henry H. Arnold (1942). Spectacular art, gouache and ink on paper of the Boeing B-17D Bomber by acclaimed illustrator, Fritz Willis (1907-1979). After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, legendary director Howard Hawks, approached Lt. General Henry "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General of the Army Air Forces to assist with a film based on the experiences of a flight of B-17s, specifically the crew of the Mary-Ann that left Hamilton Field, California, on the night of December 6, 1941, and literally flew into the war the next morning at Pearl Harbor. That movie was the World War II film classic, "AIR FORCE" starring John Garfield, Arthur Kennedy, Gig Young, Harry Carey, directed by Hawks and produced by Jack Warner. Warner wanted this film ready for the anniversary of Pearl Harbor which then mobilized all the studios to produce films for the cause.
The greatest contribution by Hollywood to the war effort was morale. Many of the movies produced during the war were patriotic rallying cries that affirmed a sense of national purpose. Combat films of the war years emphasized patriotism, group effort, and the value of individual sacrifices for a larger cause. To that end Jack Warner reached to his then in-studio artist and production designer Fritz Willis to create this special commission as a thank you to Lt. General Arnold in his making available a variety of planes for the production of the film "AIR FORCE" as well as access to personnel with technical expertise. The film is now considered a war-time classic.
The artist Fritz Willis eventually left Warner Brothers and became one of the landmark commercial artists of the 20th Century, and a legend for his extraordinarily sensual pin-up art, highly prized and collected world-wide. Therefore, the uniqueness of this piece cannot be overstated. Art is 26 x 20" and framed to 36 x 30". There is a typed, torn and heavily taped notation that mentions the provenance saying Arnold gave Warner the painting which makes little sense given the artist was working at Warner Brothers. We feel it much more likely the other way around. Estimate Value $3,000 - UP
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