"God Help Me If This Is a Dud!" Vintage Wwii Poster by John Vickery, 1942

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"God Help Me If This Is a Dud!" Vintage Wwii Poster by John Vickery, 1942

About the Item

Presented is an original WWII poster by artist John Vickery. The poster depicts an American soldier as he prepares to hurl a grenade. The script “God help me if this is a dud!” is printed at the top of the composition, emphasized by a dark red background. “His Life Is In Your Hands” is printed in bold block letters at the bottom of the poster, with “Your” emphasized in red ink. The poster was printed by the U.S. Government Printing Office in 1942 for the Ordnance Department of the U.S. Army. Artist John Vickery created this illustration to emphasize the gravity and responsibility workers manufacturing military equipment had during World War II. Many times a soldier's life relied on the integrity of their guns, ammo, grenades, and other paraphernalia. On January 5, 1942, president Franklin Roosevelt addressed Congress, asking for approval on that year’s budget. In his address, he wrote: “Powerful enemies must be outfought and outproduced…[Victory] depends upon efforts behind the lines—in the mines, in the shops, on the farms. We cannot outfight our enemies unless, at the same time, we outproduce our enemies. It is not enough to turn out just a few more planes, a few more tanks, a few more guns, a few more ships, than can be turned out by our enemies. We must outproduce them overwhelmingly, so that there can be no question of our ability to provide a crushing superiority of equipment in any theater of the world war.” American’s answered Roosevelt’s call for production. In fact, American industry provided “almost two-thirds of all the Allied military equipment produced during the war: 297,000 aircraft, 193,000 artillery pieces, 86,000 tanks and two million army trucks. In four years, American Industrial Production, already the world's largest, doubled in Size” (Burns). Born in Australia, John Vickery (1906-1983) lived in New York and served as a war artist for the U.S. Army. After the war, he lived in Greenwich Village and worked alongside some of the great Abstract Expressionists of the era, like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. He eventually broke away from this style to pursue Op Art, exploring a more Minimalist approach. His work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton and the Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, and more. Condition: Very good condition overall. Paper is healthy and color is still very vibrant. Horizontal and vertical fold lines present, from past storage. Signed by Vickery in the lithographic stone, bottom right corner. Poster margins printed with “U.S. Government Printing Office: 1942-O-477498” at bottom left and “Ordnance Department, U.S. Army. Keep ‘Em Shooting!” at bottom right. Framed to the highest archival standards in a custom-built black and silver wooden frame, acid-free mats and backing, and UV Plexiglas. Framed Dimensions: 41 5/8"H x 30 1/4"W x 2"D.

Dimensions:
Height: 41.63 in (105.75 cm)Width: 30.25 in (76.84 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Paper
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1940-1949
Date of Manufacture:
1942
Condition:
Additions or alterations made to the original: New custom archival framing by Rio Grande Framing in Colorado Springs, Colorado in March of 2023. Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Colorado Springs, CO
Reference Number:
Seller: P2721stDibs: LU909733313272