Gregor Keane Duncan (February 12, 1910–May 28, 1944) was an American artist who specialized in pen-and-ink drawings for magazines, books and newspapers.
Born in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
, Duncan grew up in
Sausalito, California
Sausalito (Spanish language, Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, California, Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, California ...
, the son of Charles and Constance Duncan. Charles Duncan wore many hats during his career, working as a designer and illustrator, as well as the press agent for Joseph Strauss, the chief engineer on the Golden Gate Bridge. Constance Duncan, the sister of Western painter
Maynard Dixon
Maynard Dixon (January 24, 1875 – November 11, 1946) was an American artist. He was known for his paintings, and his body of work focused on the American West. Dixon is considered one of the finest artists having dedicated most of their art ...
, was trained as a pianist. While Gregor Duncan received no formal art training from his famous uncle, he did work in his San Francisco studio as a "water boy", cleaning brushes, changing the water, etc. Duncan left
Tamalpais High School
Tamalpais High School (often abbreviated as Tam) is a public secondary school located in Mill Valley, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is named after nearby Mount Tamalpais, which rises almost above Mill Valley.
Tamalpais High Scho ...
before graduating, and started on the staff of the ''Sausalito News'' when he was 17 years old. Soon after, he moved across the bay to San Francisco to do sports and courtroom drawings for the ''
San Francisco Call Bulletin''. Duncan commuted from Sausalito to San Francisco, maintaining a small studio in the
Montgomery Block
The Montgomery Block, also known as Monkey Block and Halleck's Folly, was a historic building active from 1853 to 1959, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was San Francisco's first fireproof and earthquake resistant building. It came ...
in San Francisco.
Magazines
The 23-year-old Duncan relocated in New York in 1933 and was soon hired by the original ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' humor magazine. Duncan drew mostly political cartoons for ''Life'', incorporating ink, litho crayon and watercolor. Most of Duncan's cartoons were very pro-
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and the
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
, until the political tone of the magazine changed, forcing him to change the tenor of his work. The early ''Life'' ceased publishing in 1936, but Duncan continued working for many other magazines, including ''Judge'', ''Literary Digest'', ''Reader's Digest'', ''Look'', ''
Collier's
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...
'', ''Cosmopolitan'' and ''For Men Only''. In addition, Duncan did illustrations for ''
PM'' newspaper from its initial publication in 1940. Even while serving in the
Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps:
* Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army
* Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941)
* United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...
, Duncan continued supplying ''PM'' with writings and illustrations.
Gallery
Image:Duncan-FDR-cast-5-34-small.gif, A New Deal political cartoon appearing in the May 1934 issue of ''Life'' magazine.
Image:Duncan-Judge-1937.jpg, The June 1937 cover of ''Judge'' magazine by Duncan, featuring a self-portrait of the artist, as well as a portrait of Janice Karner, who would become Duncan's wife a year later.
Image:Duncan-PM-Thrift-House-Playground-11-13-40.jpg, A full page of illustrations from the November 13, 1940 issue of ''PM'', featuring kids at the Thrift House Playground in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Books
From 1939 to 1942, Duncan illustrated nine books, including his personal favorite, ''Wacky the Small Boy'':
* ''The Devil and the Doctor'', by David H. Keller. 1940. Simon & Schuster.
* ''Hail to Yesterday'', by Mara Millar. 1941. Farrar & Rinehart.
* ''The Melforts Go to Sea'', by Geraldine Pederson-Krag. 1941. Holiday House.
* ''None But the Brave'', by Rosamond Van Der Zee Marshall. 1942. Houghton-Mifflin Company.
* ''Pardon Me for Pointing'', by
Arthur Kober. 1939. Simon & Schuster.
* ''Run! Run! An Adventure in New York'', by Harry Granick. 1941. Simon & Schuster.
* ''Table for Four'', by Jack Iams. 1939. Simon & Schuster.
* ''Treasure Island'', by Robert Louis Stevenson. 1939. Published by Pocket Books, Inc.
* ''Wacky the Small Boy'', by Fred Schwed, Jr. 1939. Simon & Schuster.
World War II
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Duncan was drafted into the Army Air Corps in July 1942. He did his basic training in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and then worked in the office of Public Relations, spending time at Lowry Field in Colorado, Tarpon Springs, Florida, and Chanute Field in Illinois. His work consisted of drawings for manuals, public dissemination, and cartoon illustrations for military publications. Duncan joined the staff of ''
Stars and Stripes'' on December 14, 1943, and was shipped to Algiers to work on the Mediterranean edition of the military paper. His work in ''Stars and Stripes'' consisted of everything from field studies to comic strips and included numerous courtroom drawings from the war crimes trials of the Vichy Government. Duncan was sent to Naples, Italy in March 1944, where he befriended
Bill Mauldin
William Henry Mauldin (; October 29, 1921 – January 22, 2003) was an American editorial cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his work. He was most famous for his World War II cartoons depicting American soldiers, as represented by the ...
, who wrote about Duncan in his 1972 memoir, ''The Brass Ring''. In May 1944, Duncan was sent to
Anzio
Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.
Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...
, to work in the ''Stars and Stripes'' office under illustrator Ed Vebell. Duncan and Sgt. Jack Raymond left for the Anzio beach head on May 29, to gather material for a new series of drawings. With Duncan behind the wheel, the Jeep was struck by a German 88 shell, and Duncan was killed. His wife, Janice Duncan Goodhue, who was a volunteer with the American Red Cross, recalled:
:A correspondent from the ''Chicago Sun Times'' sent a message that I was to come back to Naples immediately. When I arrived, he was on the dock to tell me that Gregor had been killed at Anzio. There was nothing to do. We walked around, and he took me to a black market Italian restaurant for lunch. We drank and drank and ate something and drank. That night there was a gathering of ''Stars and Stripes'' people in a bombed-out village. A Yank correspondent had just returned from Yugoslavia with a British correspondent—they had had a meeting with Tito and the partisans up in the mountains, and they had just come back to Italy. I was semi-here and not here, because I was still in a state of shock. And yet, you get around. You're on your feet, and you keep going. That whole evening took me out of myself and Gregor and everything, and I was listening to them tell about their meeting with Tito. That was May of 1944. Once Gregor was gone, I could not work again in an enlisted men's club, because—and rightfully so—they talked about how much they hated the war, and how they wanted to go home. I knew that I couldn't handle that anymore, so I asked to be reassigned and was sent to a hospital unit, the 38th Evacuation Hospital. It was in Rome and had been at Anzio. Everyone there was weary. I have pictures of them. They were in a daze, having been in Anzio so long.... After Pisa, I left Italy, because I'd been overseas 18 months and the situation was so grim. Following Gregor's death I had become particularly sensitive and angry. I might have had battle fatigue just like the veterans. Anyway, I was not good for anything anymore, so it was time to go. When I got back to the states it was Christmastime, 1944.
Upon hearing of Duncan's death, Lieut. Gen.
Mark Clark, Commander of the 5th Army, wrote to his widow:
:I have just been notified of the death of your husband, Staff Sergeant Gregor K. Duncan, near Cori, Italy, while engaged in his duties as staff artist for the Stars and Stripes on May 29, 1944. I am deeply shocked at this loss to the 5th Army and to The Stars and Stripes and its readers. I have been an admirer of Sergeant Duncan’s work and know that his loss will be felt by all American soldiers fighting in Italy. We must face this tragedy with the knowledge that he paid the supreme price in making a very real and selfless contribution to this bitter but successful campaign to crush Nazi tyranny.
[Stars and Stripes, June 3, 1944.]
References
* Rob Stolzer, Gregor Duncan: Pictures of Life, 201
* Shell kills Staff Artist, ''
Stars and Stripes'', June 3, 1944
External links
Gregor Duncan Historical Preservation WebsiteGregor Keane Duncanat
Find a Grave, Find-a-Grave.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Gregor
American magazine illustrators
Tamalpais High School alumni
1910 births
1944 deaths
United States Army Air Forces personnel killed in World War II