An American Artist in Haiti
Although today he is overshadowed by contemporaries such as Charles Dana Gibson and James Montgomery Flagg, Charles Buckles Falls (1874–1960) was widely esteemed among American graphic artists in the early 20th century. His 1917 poster Books Wanted for Our Men in Camp and “Over There” was the most reproduced of the First World War, and his ABC Book for children (1923), illustrated with color woodcuts, was in print for almost sixty years.
As a member of the wartime Division of Pictorial Publicity, Falls promoted the U.S. Marine Corps in particular. In February 1919, appointed a Sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserve, he visited Haiti on behalf of the Corps’ Recruiting Publicity Bureau. Sketches he made there became etchings and woodcuts. He also illustrated a 1922 article for the April 1922 Century magazine, “Haiti under American Occupation” by Ernest H. Gruening. Haiti, together with Santo Domingo (the Dominican Republic), had been invaded by the United States in July 1915 to protect American political and financial interests threatened by a popular uprising. The occupation lasted until August 1934.
Falls’ journey to Haiti in 1919, though artistically fruitful, was a disappointment due to lack of interest by the local command. On his return to the United States, he received a written apology from Publicity Bureau headquarters in Washington, assuring him that the incident was not typical behavior for the Corps. In any event, Falls retained his interest in Haiti, and returned there in December 1945 for a stay of two months. From this visit would come a series of oil paintings and magazine art. Some of his original views of Haiti from 1919 and 1945–6, as well as a block for a related woodcut and a February 1947 article on Falls in American Artist, are on display on the main level of Sawyer Library through June 12th. All of these have been drawn from the extensive C.B. Falls collection in the Chapin Library, acquired from the artist’s widow, Bedelia Croly Falls. – WGH
Shown is a painting by C.B. Falls, Haitian Idyl, as reproduced in American Artist for February 1947.