1943 Saturday Evening Post cover. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) File photoThe effort to raise $12,500 to acquire Stevan Dohanos’s historic World War II Westport “Honor Roll” painting has been successful and today those involved in the purchase celebrated.
They gathered at the Westport Historical Society, where the painting is currently on display. Thanking them were members of the Society as well as members of the Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection Committee and the Westport WPA Art Rescue Committee.
The painting served as a December 1943 cover of The Saturday Evening Post, and was the first of 136 Post covers created by Dohanos, a Westport artist.
The painting, formally acquired last week, will become part of the Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection, a “living museum” of more than 700 works of art on view in schools and other public buildings in town.
The painting has had a lengthy odyssey in returning to Westport. After touring the United States to stimulate bond sales, the original painting was returned to Westport by the Curtis Publishing Company and hung in the Westport/Westport YMCA lobby for many years.
During a major renovation in the 1970s, it was relegated to a closet. It was subsequently rescued by Dohanos who then sold it to a collector of many Dohanos works, who has loved and taken good care of it for the past 35 years, committee members said.
Realizing that it was an important part of the town’s World War II history, as well as the only portrayal of the original honor roll, The WPA Art Rescue Committee made arrangements to bring the painting back to Westport on loan—hoping it could raise the $12,500 required to keep it here permanently.
“We asked the community for help,” said Judy Gault Sterling, president of WPA Art Rescue, “and it responded with donations large and small, the Ron Malone family, The Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection Committee, Ralph Sheffer and Paul Newman among many others.”
Howard Munce, a lifelong Westport resident and artist, has a special connection to the painting, and to Dohanos.
Munce’s name appears on the honor roll, the list of those Westport residents who were serving in the armed forces in 1943. Munce, then 27, was stationed with the U.S. Marine Corps in Guam, the Pacific theater, when the cover was published.
“One afternoon I got a message to get to the chaplain as soon as possible,” recalled Munce. “I thought uh-oh, because a call to see the chaplain usually meant bad news from back home.
“But when I got there, he greeted me with a big smile, reached back into his trunk and pulled the Saturday Evening Post. He said, “Do you know you’re on the cover of the Post?’”
Munce described Dohanos as a “great lifelong friend.” Before the war, Munce worked briefly with Dohanos as his studio assistant, and then corresponded with him after he enlisted.
Munce often included sketches from the field in his letters, which Dohanos used as reference images for his own work. The sketches are now part of the New Britain Museum of American Art’s military art collection.
The “Honor Roll” painting is featured in the Westport Historical Society exhibit “The Folks Back Home.” It honors the Red Cross and the work it did behind the scenes to support U.S. soldiers on the war front.
“People stopping in to see the exhibit and painting are very emotional about it,” said Mollie Donovan, who co-chairs the Society’s Exhibit Committee with Wally Woods.
“The names of Westporters who served are still clearly readable, and many of their families are still here in town.
“There are so many people who worked hard to make sure it came back to Westport—but we especially want to thank Walt Reed, a longtime Westporter who knows the collector and arranged for its return.”
At the end of the exhibit, the painting, now fully paid for, will become a part of the Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection.
Being part of the collection database assures its lifetime care, any restoration or framing required, plus insurance, according to committee officials.
“All of our artwork is labeled and closely monitored,” said Joan Miller, who is responsible for the WSPAC database. “We rotate it through our schools and public buildings and always know where its located.”
The public is invited to not only view the exhibit and the painting but to get into the spirit of the 1940s and attend Canteen Night being held on Saturday, Aug. 27 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Westport Historical Society. For information or reservations call (203)227-9505, ext. 42 or (203)222-1424 ext. 3.
Emily Laux contributed reporting for this story
