It would have been easy for Milton Herbert Bancroft to slip between the cracks of history into obscurity, like so many capable artists of his era. But Indiana University of Pennsylvania is giving him new life. “Gilded Age to Great War: Milton Bancroft and His Art” at the University Museum includes 65 items from the school’s large collection of Bancroft art and memorabilia, most of which came to the university by way of an unusual opportunity. [https://www.iup.edu/news-item.aspx?id=226845&blogid=17493] A versatile American artist known for his Impressionistic paintings, Bancroft engaged in home front efforts during the first World War designing posters for the US Navy, Red Cross, and Council of National Defense. His best-known poster was titled “To Arms” and is considered an iconic art piece of Americana. [https://www.iup.edu/livelyarts/past-seasons/2016-17/art/gilded-age-to-great-war--milton-bancroft-and-his-art/] Working primarily in New York City after studying in Philadelphia and Paris, Bancroft was selected to paint murals for the Court of the Seasons at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, 1915. He also was well known for his fine portraits, including other artists (such as Daniel Chester French) and members of their families. [https://www.iup.edu/news-item.aspx?id=162144&blogid=7981] Bancroft was born on Jan. 1, 1866, in Newton, Massachusetts, near Boston. He studied and taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the nation’s oldest museum and art school. Located in Philadelphia, it continues to be an important training ground for painters and sculptors. Bancroft also studied at the art academies of Paris before establishing a career as a muralist and portrait painter in New York City. Bancroft was one of a select number of architects, painters, and sculptors engaged to create works for the magnificent Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco of 1915. [https://www.iup.edu/news-item.aspx?id=223938&blogid=17836] undefined

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