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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Painting of a View from a German Coastal Battery
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Painting of a View from a German Coastal Battery

Object numberMO 1945.83.1
Name Painting
Artist (American painter, art historian, 1902-1986)
Date1944
MediumTextile (canvas), Paint (oil), Wood
Dimensionsoverall (on stretcher) H 24 in x W 40 in (61 cm x 101.6 cm )
DescriptionAn oil on canvas painting depicting a view from the World War II command post of a German coastal battery at Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France. The view is from the perspective of looking out through the narrow horizontal slit of a reinforced concrete strongpoint, towards the open water of the English Channel. Visible on the Channel, in the distance, is the battleship USS TEXAS firing at the battery. On the right, the destroyer USS HARDING is seen coming towards shore to fire from close range. The painting is signed by the artist in the upper right: F. Wight.
Label TextNavy Lieutenant Frederick Wight painted this view from a German coastal battery at Pointe de Hoc in Normandy during the June 6, 1944 D-Day landings. Pointe du Hoc is a promontory with a 100-foot cliff that overlooked the two American landing beaches (Omaha and Utah). On D-Day, U.S. Army Rangers attacked and captured the battery after scaling the cliff. Wight based this painting on sketches he made while the Allied beachhead was still under fire. This painting is one of two (see also MO 1945.83.2) he sent to Franklin Roosevelt as a token of his “esteem for the President’s war leadership.” When it was presented to Roosevelt on September 7, 1944, he listened intently to the story behind the painting and directed that it be sent to his library.
Additional Details
Custodial History NoteDeposited at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum by Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 7, 1944. It was donated as a bequest of FDR to the Library in 1947.
Credit LineEstate of Franklin D. Roosevelt
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesUnited States Navy Materials (National Archives Identifier 782673)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
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