Phil Bard (February 14, 1912 – March 12, 1966) was an American artist and Communist Party organizer.

Biography

Bard was employed as a cartoonist at Krazy Kat Studio before joining the staff of ''

New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). It was the successor to both '' The Masses'' (1911–1917) and ''The Liberator'' (1918–1924). ''New Masses'' was later merge ...

'' magazine in 1930. Bard worked for the Communist Party as an organizer in the

Ohio National Guard The Ohio National Guard comprises the Ohio Army National Guard and the Ohio Air National Guard. The commander-in-chief of the Ohio Army National Guard is the List of governors of Ohio, governor of the U.S. state of Ohio. If the Ohio Army Nation ...

's summer camp, attempting to spread anti-military leaflets. Bard was one of five members on the National Secretariat of the

John Reed Club The John Reed Clubs (1929–1935), often referred to as John Reed Club (JRC), were an American federation of local organizations targeted towards Marxist writers, artists, and intellectuals, named after the American journalist and activist John ...

in 1934. Under the influence of the John Reed Club and members like

Hugo Gellert Hugo Gellert (born Hugó Grünbaum, May 3, 1892 December 9, 1985) was a Hungarian- American illustrator and muralist. A committed radical and member of the Communist Party of America, Gellert created much work for political activism in the 192 ...

, Bard began to work with murals in addition to his drawings. While representing the Club, he participated in the protests against the removal of

Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...

's ''

Man at the Crossroads ''Man at the Crossroads'' (1933) was a fresco by Mexican painter Diego Rivera. Originally slated to be installed in the lobby of the 30 Rockefeller Plaza, RCA Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City, the fresco showed aspects of contempo ...

'' from

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

, though he was critical of Rivera's politics. Bard was also a founding member of the Artists' Union in 1934. In 1936 he was active in the

American League Against War and Fascism The American League Against War and Fascism was an organization formed in 1933 by the Communist Party USA and pacifists united by their concern as Nazism and Fascism rose in Europe. In 1937 the name of the group was changed to the American League f ...

, contributing a page to an illustrated calendar that featured 12 drawings by left-wing artists. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, Bard joined the

Abraham Lincoln Battalion The Lincoln Battalion (), the major component of what came to be known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, was the 17th (later the 58th) battalion of the XV International Brigade that fought in the Spanish Civil War. Named after United States Presid ...

, serving as the Brigade's political commander, but left the military because of ill health. He continued to aid the loyalists in Spain by serving as the executive secretary of the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Morris Cohen wrote that a speech by Bard at a Bronx County Communist Party meeting inspired him to join the International Brigades in 1937. Using his background in art, he worked as the advertising manager for the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in Chicago founded by communists, socialists, union members, and other activists. Publication began in 1924. It generally reflected the prevailing views of members of the Communist Party USA (CPU ...

'', where he attracted controversy in 1950 for refusing to publish advertisements for a film criticizing the trial of Cardinal Midszenty. Bard became paralyzed on his right side after an illness but he trained himself to draw with his left hand. Bard had his first solo exhibition of drawings in 1955 at ACA Galleries At this time, his work still reflected his left-wing sympathies, depicting human figures "shrunken in body and spirit" in "a world on the point of crumbling". Beyond his political activities and art, Bard continued to support himself as a comic artist, drawing art for the comic book

Minute-Man Minute-Man (Jack Weston) is a superhero appearing in comics published Fawcett Comics and later DC Comics. Publication history Named after the minutemen of the American Revolution and sporting a costume inspired by the American flag, he was origin ...

.He was the author of one play, an allegorical story of a blind veteran, called Ninth Month Midnight. It was performed in 1949 by the Abbe Practical Workshop. Bard died on March 12, 1966, at the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital in Brooklyn.

References

{{Authority control 1912 births 1966 deaths Abraham Lincoln Brigade members Members of the Communist Party USA 20th-century American male artists American animators American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists American muralists American communists American propagandists