McClelland Barclay

McClelland Barclay
Died	at sea near the Solomon Islands
Allegiance	American
Service/branch	Navy
Years of service	1938–1943
Rank	Lt. Commander

McClelland Barclay (1891–1943) was a leading American illustrator. By the age of 21, Barclay's work had been published in The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, and Cosmopolitan. He later became a Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve in 1938. By 1943, he was a Lt. Commander.

Born in St. 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 the Art Institute of Chicago, then later at the Art Students League in New York City, where he studied figure drawing with George Bridgman and illustration with Thomas Fogarty. Barclay also attended The St. Louis Museum of Fine Arts, now known as the School of Art, Washington University in St. Louis. Here, he studied under the school's founder, Halsey Ives. He was also a student in Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C..

During World War I, he was awarded a prize by the Committee on National Preparedness in 1917 for his poster "Fill the Breach." The next year, he designed naval camouflage under the direction of William Mackay, Chief of the New York District Emergency Fleet Corporation.

During the 1920s and 1930s, McClelland Barclay's images were selected for use by art directors for the nation's most popular periodicals including Collier's, Country Gentleman, Redbook, Pictorial Review, Coronet, Country Life, The Saturday Evening Post, The Ladies' Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, and a host of movie magazines. During the 1930s, he began painting movie poster art for Hollywood studios, including Paramount Pictures and Twentieth 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 paint World War II pin-up girl, Betty Grable.

...
Wikipedia