The Battalion Artist: A Navy Seabee's Sketchbook of War in the South Pacific, 1943–1945

By Janice Blake and Natale Bellantoni

The Battalion Artist explores the three years, three months, and three days of Nat Bellantoni's life on the Pacific front in World War II. He had known since childhood that he wanted to be—that he in fact was—an artist. When he packed his seabag and took leave of his family and his sweetheart to go to war, he knew that the best way to manage the narrative of his life and to cope with the ups and downs of his feelings was to create images—visual records that spoke of what he felt, as well as what he saw. In this stunning book filled with authentic World War II images—many in full color—we see and feel the intensity of wartime life through the eyes of a talented young artist who was also a US Navy Seabee. Natale Bellantoni, a young art student from Boston, sailed across the Pacific in 1943–45 and returned home with a sea chest of art and photographs documenting his experiences in New Caledonia, New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands, and Okinawa. His subject matter was his daily life: endless weeks at sea, harbors and ships, men at work, airstrips, the local countryside, and the view of enemy planes overhead at night from his fox hole. Now collected in a lavishly illustrated volume, his watercolors, sketches, and photographs offer a window onto one of the most significant moments in American history. The Battalion Artist explores the World War II experiences of Nat Bellantoni, but it reflects the story of an entire generation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Independent Publishers Group
• Release date: Sep 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9780817922283

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Reviews for The Battalion Artist

[eyes92c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

World War II. The Pacific Arena through the artist's eye!I have always been drawn to art works depicting battles and wars and marveled at how the artists were able to work under pressure to produce some amazing pieces. I have spent time at major art galleries reflecting on varies artists' abilities. That interest is what drew me to this title.Of course with the advent of the camera, paintings and sketches were no longer the only medium recording historical moments of life at the front. If your an ordinary serving seaman you use what media you have available. Natale Bellantoni used them all. Watercolor paintings, sketches, photographs and other realia. His paintings very much have that aura of late forties Realism (And how can they not be one asks!)I marveled at how this talented young painter, attendee of the Massachusetts School of Art, was able to produce such a special record of the times, places and the work of the Seebees in the 78th Construction Battalion in the Pacific arena during World War II.Putting this all lovingly together, the blended artifacts, photographs, jotted notes, and records along with interesting vignettes detailing both ordinary and extraordinary shipboard and island events confronted, Nat's daughter Nancy, has produced not only a fascinating historical record but an important artifact from the Pacific War zone.I was drawn to Nat's paintings. They have a lively clarity, with depth and action that gives pause. From life on board ship, to the tranquility of untouched islands, to the intrusion of the war machine and all its accouterments they are are more than just a vivid record, they are an aesthetic response to the world Nat found himself in. Sometimes Nat's paintings are peaceful and reflect the untouched landscapes of the various islands, but with others Nat "was determined to see and show clearly how war had trespassed ... The intrusions were jarring to the eye." And indeed some of them do jar. The large planes on island beaches show this clearly.An evocative and insightful artistic remembrance of times we should never forget.A Hoover Institution Press ARC via NetGalley