ARTIST: Jack Banham Coggins (New York, Pennsylvania, British, 1911 - 2006)
NAME: Illustration - WW2
YEAR: 1944
MEDIUM: gouache on board
CONDITION: One crease line (lower left corner). One 1" tear. Minor damages to edges and corners. Some age toning.
SIGHT SIZE: 16 x 21 inches / 40 x 53 cm
FRAME SIZE: unframed
SIGNATURE: lower middle
NOTE: The caption on the back: Several American M-4 and M-8 tanks smashed up a German attempt to run two trains——Lorient in blitz fashion. “It was about three P.M., when suddenly I heard an awful noise,” said Coggins. “It was one hell of a row—with hissing steam, smoke, whistles, explosions.” The
trains— a locomotive and four cars followed by a locomotive and ten cars full of jerries and ammo— we’re stopped dead by shells from the leading M-4s. Everybody was firing at the trains with every available weapon; the Nazis fired back with machine pistols and machine guns at the armored Americans less
than 150 yards away. Ammo in the trains caught fire and burned all night; some of the Germans surrendered, some were killed and some escaped back to their lines.
PROVENANCE: YANK UK 1944 magazine illustration. Jack Banham Coggin’s was called up for Army service and enlisted April 8, 1943. He was pulled from basic training to work as an illustrator for YANK Magazine. On May 20, 1943, Coggin’s commenced work at the head office of YANK in NY, where he worked
until he departed to Britain. He served as an artist for British YANK in London until August 2, 1945. The last picture is this painting illustrated in YANK magazine. To explain the two signatures: the one that is painted out was actually covered up mostly by the caption. You can just see the bottom of the S. We
assume that is why he wrote it again in a more open and better spot.
CATEGORY: antique vintage painting
SKU#: 116853
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BIOGRAPHY:
Jack Coggins is a painter who is known in the United States for his oil paintings of predominantly marine subjects.
Jack Banham Coggins was born in London on 10th July 1911, the only son of Sidney George Coggins, the Riding Master of the First Regiment of Lifeguards. When his father was retrenched, the family migrated to the United States in 1923. After studying at the Grand Central School of Art and the Art
Students League in New York, Jack devoted much of his time to marine painting both in oil and watercolour, and gained some work illustrating magazines.
During World War II, he served as a U.S. Army artist correspondent for Yank magazine in Europe and was with the U.S. ground forces during and after D Day. Many of his war illustrations appeared in Life and Saturday Evening Post. He also executed commissions for the Army and Navy, and illustrated
many wartime commercial advertisements.
After the war in the 1950s, Jack executed covers for science-fiction magazines, most notably Galaxy and Fantasy & Science Fiction. In 1951 and 1952, he collaborated with Fletcher Pratt on two classic books - Rockets, Jets Guided Missiles and Space Ships, and By Space Ship to the Moon (both published by
Random House). The books were released amidst a great wave of interest in space travel, which swept the country in the 1950s. The two books made the prospect of space exploration seem a very practical possibility, and there are many space scientists today who retain fond memories of the influence
these books had on their careers.
During the sixties Jack wrote and illustrated numerous books about the American Revolution, Navigation, Signalling, Vikings, Submarines, and many more marine, military and historical themes. In 1966 he wrote and illustrated The Horseman's Bible, which has sold at least half a million copies. A revised edition
was published in 1984. He acknowledges his father's 25 years in the cavalry and lifetime interest in horses for his equine knowledge.
Jack Coggins has produced well in excess of 500 oil and water colour paintings during his career - they are displayed in numerous galleries and owned by the Philadelphia Maritime Museum, the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coastguard, and other
institutions and companies. His original manuscripts and illustrations are part of the University of Mississippi's Permanent Collection of outstanding authors and artists. He has been a member of the American Ordnance Association, the U.S. Naval Institute, and advisor to the board of the Philadelphia Maritime
Museum.
Jack Coggins has had wide teaching experience, with five years on the faculty of Hunter College. He recently retired from active teaching and now lives with his wife Alma Woods, at his farm "Crestfield" near Boyertown in Pennsylvania.