Home Is The Hunter by James Dietz
Limited Edition Print - Publisher Proof
Edition Size: 250
Image Size: 25"w x 12 1/2"h
Overall Size: 31"w x 19"h
Hand signed and numbered by the artist, James Dietz.
Includes certificate of authenticity.
On September 1, 1939, Hitler ordered German forces to invade Poland. Two days later France and Britain declared war on Germany. Sixteen months later, on December 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
Every branch of service in the United States military would answer the call to the nation’ s defense. The United States, along with 45 other Allied nations, would dress their sons and daughters for the battle to halt the Axis expansion and defeat tyranny.
Across nearly every continent and ocean, nations fought for the freedom of the world. The soil and waters of the earth became the final resting place for an estimated 75,000,000 people, both military and civilian.
Naval ships forever slipped into the dark waters of the Pacific Ocean at Pearl Harbor, Iron Bottom Sound, Leyte Gulf and the Battle of Midway. The depths of the Atlantic became the eternal cradle of Merchant ships, their loyal escorts and their submarines pursuers.
The beaches of Normandy, the sands of El Alamein; the dense woods of Hurtgen Forest along Bastogne and Ardennes; the hills and rivers of Imphal and Kohima, the grassy steppes of Stalingrad, and the jungles of the King Solomon Islands all bear similar scars forever tinged with the blood of the world’ s total war.
In commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the Command and General Staff College Class of 2020 has commissioned artist Mr. James Dietz and together present the Class Gift “Home is the Hunter.” "Home is the Hunter" depicts a fictional U.S. Army Officer of the 101st Airborne Division returning home from World War II. The Soldier himself is absent from the painting. We can imagine him having recently returned home, off-scene embracing the family in the photographs on the nightstand. Perhaps, the dress uniform still crisp and ready for wear, three-quarters of a century later is laid before us in present day. Our Soldier is regaling great-grandchildren, knee-high to a grasshopper with stories that history failed to record. Or maybe, the fictional Major, now attending the Command and General Staff College, the grandchild of our WWII veteran, quietly remembers the grandfather that served before, and aspires to the legacy of the Greatest Generation.
To all those who came home,
and to all those military and civilian, throughout the world conflict,
who paid the ultimate sacrifice,
The Command and General Staff College
Class of 2020
Commemorates the 75th Anniversary of the End of World War II.
Mr. Dietz thanks the following individuals for their contribution to this project: Juan Gonzales of World War II Impressions and Quay Terry for lending irreplaceable items from their collections to be featured in this still life; Mr. Zach Fink who gave of time and expertise to search out and obtain various family items also featured in the work; Colonel Patrick Carpenter, U.S. Army Ranger (Retired) who was a font of advice in choosing key items to be shown; and finally for inspiration for the concept the film Best Years of Our Lives, in particular, the coming home scenes in that Academy Award 1946 Best Picture of the Year, directed by William Wyler.