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Home Town Kensington, Maryland
Date of Passing Feb 14, 1976
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Last Known Activity:
Lieutenant Mitchell Jamieson Combat Artist and Illustrator (1915 - 1976)
Mitchell Jamieson: One of the country’s foremost watercolor artists, Jamieson was born in Kensington, Maryland, attended Central High School,. He graduated the Abbott School of Fine and Commercial Arts and the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. In the 1930s, he traveled to Key West and the Virgin Islands to paint under the Treasury Department's Art Project, and received commissions to paint murals for post offices in Upper Marlboro and Laurel, Maryland; Willard, Ohio; and at the Interior Building in Washington, D.C.
Upon the onset of World War II, Jamieson was, once again, commissioned to paint; however, this time, he was requested to paint defense activities. Jamieson completed such works at the Glenn L. Martin Aviation Plant near Baltimore, Maryland. Thereafter, he was commissioned an Ensign with the U. S. Naval Reserve, and went on to matriculate at the Indoctrination School in Newport, Rhode Island.
He began his duty in 1942 as an official combat artist where he was assigned to serve in North Africa, there he would continue to graphically depict war scenes, especially that of the U. S. Navy.
He depicted the North African campaigns, invasion of Sicily, and the invasion at Normandy, were Lieutenant Jamieson crossed the channel on D-Day on the deck of an LST and went ashore with one of the first demolition units. He was also at the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Japanese surrender on board the U.S.S. Missouri. Jamieson was awarded the Bronze Star by the U.S. Navy for his work. His combat paintings were reproduced extensively in Life, and Fortune magazine. Jamieson's works have also been represented at the Phillips Memorial Gallery, are in collections at the White House, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Seattle Art Museum.
Jamieson said of his Navy combat art experience “I have confined my paintings to what I have experienced and know to be strictly true, at the same time having to adapt my way of working to the pressure of time and swift-moving events. Yet anything that is worthwhile or that has the bite of reality in the work produced under these circumstances probably derives from a constant effort to share as fully as possible in the lives and experiences of others”.
Jamieson documented the surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945, on board USS Missouri (BB-63) during the surrender ceremonies. After a brief stay with occupation forces he returned home in late September to his private practice.
In addition to his renderings for NASA of Apollo recoveries, Jamieson covered Mercury missions as well as a Saturn launch. Jamieson volunteered as a civilian artist for the U.S. Army in Vietnam. This effort took an enormous toll from which he was not to recover. In 1976 he took his own life.
Jamieson was twice awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Award of Merit by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Other Comments:
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Surrender of Japan, End of WWII
From Month/Year
August / 1945
To Month/Year
August / 1945
Description The surrender of the Empire of Japan was announced by Imperial Japan on August 15 and formally signed on September 2, 1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting major operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent. Together with the United Kingdom and China, the United States called for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945—the alternative being "prompt and utter destruction". While publicly stating their intent to fight on to the bitter end, Japan's leaders (the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War, also known as the "Big Six") were privately making entreaties to the still-neutral Soviet Union to mediate peace on terms more favorable to the Japanese. Meanwhile, the Soviets were preparing to attack Japanese forces in Manchuria and Korea (in addition to southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands) in fulfillment of promises they had secretly made to the United States and the United Kingdom at the Tehran and Yalta Conferences.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
August / 1945
To Month/Year
August / 1945
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945, on board USS Missouri (BB-63) during the surrender ceremonies.
Mitchell Jamieson: One of the country's foremost watercolor artists, Jamieson was born in Kensington, Maryland, and attended the Abbott School of Fine and Commercial Arts and the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. Having already established himself with many noted commissions, he began his duty in 1942 as an official combat artist where he depicted the invasion of Sicily, the invasion at Normandy, as well as the Japanese surrender on board the U.S.S. Missouri. Jamieson was awarded the Bronze Star by the U.S. Navy for his work. His combat paintings were reproduced extensively in Life, Fortune and other national publications.
