McClelland Barclay | |
|---|---|
 Barclay in 1933 | |
| Born | 1891 (1891) St. Louis, Missouri, US |
| Died | July 18, 1943(1943-07-18) (aged 51–52) at sea near theSolomon Islands |
| Buried | Lost at sea |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | Navy |
| Service years | 1938–1943 |
| Rank | Lt. Commander |
McClelland Barclay (1891 – 18 July 1943) was anAmerican illustrator. By the age of 21, Barclay's work had been published inThe Saturday Evening Post,Ladies' Home Journal, andCosmopolitan. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in theNaval Reserve in 1938[1] and following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor he went on active duty. At the time of his death, in 1943, he was aLt. Commander.
Born inSt. Louis in 1891, Barclay's mother died when he was 17. He was sent to Washington, DC, to live with his aunt and uncle, Edward and Lucy McClelland, after whom he had been named. He studied first at theArt Institute of Chicago, and later at theArt Students League inNew York City, where he studied figure drawing withGeorge Bridgman and illustration withThomas Fogarty.[2] Barclay also attended theSt. Louis School of Fine Arts (now theSam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts atWashington University in St. Louis); there he studied under the school's founder,Halsey Ives. He was also a student in theCorcoran School of Art inWashington DC.[1]
During World War I, Barclay was awarded a prize by the Committee on National Preparedness in 1917 for his poster "Fill the Breach." The next year, he designednaval camouflage under the direction ofWilliam Mackay, Chief of the New York District of theEmergency Fleet Corporation.[2][3]
During the 1920s and 1930s, Barclay's images were selected for use by art directors for the nation's most popular periodicals includingCollier's,Country Gentleman,Redbook,Pictorial Review,Coronet,Country Life,The Saturday Evening Post,TheLadies' Home Journal,Cosmopolitan, and a host of movie magazines.[2] During the 1930s, he began painting movie poster art for Hollywood studios, includingParamount Pictures andTwentieth Century Fox. Barclay was considered a superstar in the film industry during the late 1930s and early 1940s. Barclay was one of the first artists to paintWorld War II pin-up girl,Betty Grable.[2]
In 1930, theGeneral Motors Corporation selected Barclay's "Fisher Body Girl" for a series of advertisements, and she quickly became as popular as "TheGibson Girl" and "The Christy Girl". He used his second wife Helene, 19 years old, as the model for the iconicFisher Autobody image. Helene later appeared in magazine advertisements and was so well published with her languid body plastered across the country on billboards, that she was recognized wherever she went. He also illustrated advertisements forA&P, Eaton Paper Company,Elgin Watches, Humming Bird Hosiery, andLever Brothers, amongst others.[2] He also illustrated advertisements forWhitman's Chocolates,Texaco, andCamel andChesterfield brandcigarettes. Because Barclay was known for his illustrations of "striking women", he earned a judging position at theMiss America 1935 pageant.[1]
His posters and camouflage designs earned him Naval commission.[2]
Barclay was a member of theArt Students League, the Chicago Art Club, theSociety of Illustrators, the Association of Arts and Industries, and the Artists Guild.[1]
Barclay did not limit himself to painting. In the late 1930s, he set up a small company to reproduce jewelry and fabricate utilitarian figures for ashtrays, bookends, desk sets, lamps, and other articles for home and office use. These products were fabricated out of cast grey metal with a thick bronze plate finish and they retailed for just a few dollars. The company, which he named the McClelland Barclay Arts Products Corporation, made him little money.[2]
In 1944, a year after his death, Barclay was awarded theArt Directors Club Medal, "in recognition of his long and distinguished record in editorial illustration and advertising art and in honor of his devotion and meritorious service to his country as a commissioned officer of the United States Navy." He was also posthumously inducted in the Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame.[1]
In June 1938, he was appointed Assistant Naval Constructor with the US Naval Reserve. In mid-1940, Barclay prepared experimentaldazzle camouflage designs for Navy combat aircraft, but evaluation tests revealed that pattern camouflage was of little use for aircraft. Following the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor, Barclay completed the first of many recruiting posters for theNavy.[1]
On October 19, 1940, Barclay reported for active duty. He served in the New York Recruiting office, illustrating posters for the next two and a half years. These images would become some of the most recognizable recruiting images of World War II.[1] Barclay was determined to be a front-line combat artist. In March 1943, he told theSan Francisco Examiner, "A camera cannot catch the human element of a fight, the sweat and blood and courage our boys expend every time they face the enemy." In 1941 he volunteered for this position, but was rejected. Eventually he would serve in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters on theUSS Arkansas (BB-33),USS Pennsylvania (BB-38),USS Honolulu (CL-48), and theUSS Maryland (BB-46).[4]
Promoted toLt. Commander, Barclay worked on further assignments until July 18, 1943, when he was reported asmissing in action. The USSLST-342 he was aboard was torpedoed in theSolomon Islands.[2] On board, sketching and taking photographs at the time, Barclay's body was not recovered.[1]
Barclay was awarded thePurple Heart Medal posthumously. He was also awarded theAmerican Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; theAsiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal; theAmerican Area Campaign Medal; and theWorld War II Victory Medal.[1]
Barclay's first wife was Nan McClelland, his niece who was 8 years his senior. Barclay did not smoke or drink and boxed to keep in shape; Nan drank, smoked and loved parties. They grew apart and divorced in February 1930. Barclay then became engaged to his second wife, Helene Haskins. She was 20 and he was 39 – they later divorced. After his divorce with Helene, Barclay was briefly engaged to Virginia Moore, a 22-year old model, in 1937.[5][6]
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