Sacrifice - The Privilege of Free Men

Leaning out of a train window, a soldier embraces a woman before setting off for war. The poster from World War II beautifully captures the two-sided sacrifice of being sent off to war; the sacrifice of the soldier and the sacrifice of the American Homefront. Created by Nikol Shattenstein, this poster was one of the winners of the International Business Machines Corp. Award of the National War Poster Competition.

The National War Poster Competition was co-sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and the R. Hoe & Company, which began as a New York based printing press in 1805. By World War II, the R. Hoe & Company had shifted to parts manufacturing. There were 2,224 entries for the competition and 9 works were awarded special honors. The Sacrifice – The Privilege of Free Men was one of the recipients of the award. The collection of the 9 winning posters, including this one by Schattenstein, are highly sought after by collectors.

Russian artist Nikol Schattenstein (1877 – 1954) studied at the Academy in Vienna and was best known for his portrait paintings. Some of his best-known portraits feature Regina Vanderbilt, Raoul Aurenheimer and Leon Trotsky. At the age of 62, Schattenstein immigrated to the United States where he painted significant American journalist H.L. Mencken and competed and won in the National War Poster competition.

This is an Original Vintage Poster. It is not a reproduction. This poster is conservation mounted, linen backed and in excellent condition. We guarantee the authenticity of our posters.