The Art of War

The paintings of Tom Lea, Life magazine's artist-correspondent during World War II.

  • By Rebecca Maksel
  • AirSpaceMag.com, February 06, 2009
| 2 of 11 |

Tom Lea


Lea mainly relied on quick sketches made in the field when making his paintings. But he occasionally used photographs, as in this shot of pilot Bill Kelly, with Lea’s notes written around the margins. “I went out to the war as a reporter,” said Lea. “I absolutely was not going to do anything that I didn’t see and know—because I was there to record it, not as I thought it should be or not as an object of art.”


| 2 of 11 |



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Comments (3)

What an excellent well written account of the life and works of Tom Lea who is an underappreciated artist and writer of the World War II era.

Posted by Margaret Kurtin on February 15,2009 | 01:53 PM

The pictures and the captions tell us a lot about the man himself. A worthy representative I think, of a very worthy generation.

Posted by Mike Houlding on August 26,2009 | 11:05 PM

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