Artist Birthday: James M. Flagg

James Montgomery Flagg was an artist, illustrator, and comic book artist. He is perhaps best known for his poster designs for World War I (1914–1918) in which he created by far, the most iconic image of Uncle Sam, even though he did not invent that character. He was also a consummate portrait artist.

Artist Birthday for 18 June: James Montgomery Flagg (1877–1960, United States)

James Montgomery Flagg was a prolific artist, illustrator, and comic artist whose poster designs in World War I defined the appearance of Uncle Sam in American art.

James Montgomery Flagg, Gayle Mellott, late 1930s. Charcoal on paper, 36 x 28 cm. Courtesy of the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio. © 2025 Artist or Estate of Artist. (BIAA-315)

Flagg's work was greatly admired by mega-publisher William Randolph Hearst (1863–1951). Because of this valuable connection, Flagg was able to gain commissions to many wealthy people, including movie celebrities. This portrait of Gayle Mellott (1916–1988)—an actress and friend of Hearst who began her movie career in 1935—is typical of the quick, sketchy work Flagg liked doing best of prominent people. These celebrity portraits usually did not end up being finished, painted portraits. Flagg has achieved a soft three-dimensionality by combining crisp lines and smearing of the shaded areas to indicate shadows and contours. The woman's hair was begun with smearing of the charcoal, with crisp lines added over. The striking features of this portrait are the actress's eyes and lips, both attributes for which she was renowned in her movies.

The renaissance in American illustration coincides roughly with that of the American poster, between the 1890s and 1930s. Both genre were affected by the perfection of color lithography techniques which allowed artists to create works that had the depth and nuances of light and dark that imitated painting. For the majority of illustration artists, realism is the important style because of the narrative involved. Realism has always had a strong hold on American art, and advertising and publishing illustration benefited from that strength.

Flagg produced what is perhaps one of the most famous posters in US illustration history, the Uncle Sam figure in his World War I recruitment posters. Born in Pelham Manor, New York, he was skilled in sketching portraits already as a young man. At age 12 he sold drawings and cartoons to Saint Nicholas children's monthly magazine published by Scribner's. At fifteen, he was already a staff artist for the satirical Judge magazine and Life. He studied at the Art Students League in New York (1894–1898) and afterwards in London and Paris (1898–1900).

Flagg's early illustrations relied primarily on pen and ink drawing. When half-tone printing and chromolithography improved reproduction methods, he began creating his signature illustrations of fashionable young women and dandy young men. His illustrations catered to the American notion of what young people, particularly young women, should look like. His commissions ranged from cartoons, posters, magazine covers and illustrations to serious portraiture. The magazines for which he worked included Colliers, Cosmopolitan, Liberty, McClure's, Photoplay, Redbook, Saturday Evening Post, and many others.

Correlation to Davis program: Discovering Drawing 3E, Chapter 7 Portraits: Focus on Features-Eyes