William Thaw/Lafayette Escadrille double portrait

[Russell Smith]

Hi all. Fresh on the heels of the "Löwenhardt!" color study, here is the finished version of "Mark of Distinction".

The painting was commissioned by the nephew of William Thaw, Mr. William Thaw Whitney (what a name, huh?).Thaw is credited with the idea of using the now famous Indian Head as the squadron logo.

In SPA 124 Lafayette Escadrille Jon Gutman writes, "Another burst of creativity amid the squalor of Cachy occurred when Bill Thaw noticed the Seminole Indian head trademark on crates of ammunition from the Savage Arms Company and ordered one of the mechanics, Cpl Suchet, to apply it to the fuselage sides of N124's aircraft as a squadron insignia."

"Mark of Distinction" depicts William Thaw presenting the Indian Head logo to Capitaine Thenault for approval as Cpl Suchet looks on.

22" x 16"
oil on linen

Last edited by Russell Smith on Fri Mar 02, 2007 5:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Russell Smith]

and details:

[Django]

Very nice!

[STEARMAN]

Beautiful work !!