McClelland Barclay (9 May 1891 – 18 July 1943) was an American illustrator. By the age of 21, Barclay's work had been published in The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, and Cosmopolitan. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve in 1938 and following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor he went on active duty. At the time of his death, in 1943, he was a Lt. Commander.

Early life and education

Born in St. Louis in 1891, Barclay's mother died when he was 17. He was sent to Washington, DC, to live with his aunt and uncle, Edward and Lucy McClelland, after whom he had been named. He studied first at the Art Institute of Chicago, and later at the Art Students League in New York City, where he studied figure drawing with George Bridgman and illustration with Thomas Fogarty. Barclay also attended the St. Louis School of Fine Arts (now the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis); there he studied under the school's founder, Halsey Ives. He was also a student in the Corcoran School of Art in Washington DC.

thumb|left|upright|McClelland Barclay painting a portrait of [[Husband E. Kimmel]]

During the 1920s and 1930s, Barclay's images were selected for use by art directors for the nation's most popular periodicals including Collier's, Country Gentleman, Redbook, Pictorial Review, Coronet, Country Life, The Saturday Evening Post, The Ladies' Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, and a host of movie magazines.

Promoted to Lt. Commander, Barclay worked on further assignments until July 18, 1943, when he was reported as missing in action. The USS LST-342 he was aboard was torpedoed in the Solomon Islands.

Institutions with his works

  • Pritzker Military Museum & Library
  • U.S. Navy
  • Corewell Health Downtown, Grand Rapids, MI

See also

  • Adventurers' Club of New York

References

Further reading

  • Barclay, McClelland. How You Can Win Your Navy Wings. Washington, DC: U.S. Navy Recruiting Bureau, 1942.
  • Barclay, McClelland. McClelland Barclay: Exhibition of Portraits, Marines, Sculpture. New York: Portrait Painters Gallery, 1938.
  • Ermoyan, Arpi. Famous American Illustrators. [Crans, Switzerland]: Published for the Society of Illustrators by Rotovision, 1997. ,
  • Martignette, Charles G., and Louis K. Meisel. The Great American Pin-up. Köln: Taschen, 2004. ,
  • Taraba, Fred. Masters of American Illustration: 41 Illustrators & How They Worked. Saint Louis, MO: Illustrated Press, 2011. ,
  • U.S. ship camouflage
  • McClelland Barclay patent for airplane camouflage
  • McClelland Barclay posters, hosted by the University of North Texas Libraries Digital Collections
  • McClelland Barclay artwork can be viewed at American Art Archives web site
  • McClelland Barclay Navy Stats at TogetherWeServed
  • McClelland Barclay Jewelry
  • McClelland Barclay bio at Papillon Gallery