William S. Phillips
“Aviation was my first artistic love,” says William S. Phillips, “but my true, enduring love remains my Christian faith, home and family. So it is my pleasure to combine all of it in my work. The historical aviation subjects, I research; the contemporary and nostalgic subjects, I live.”
Phillips grew up loving art but never thought he could make it his livelihood. At college he majored in criminology, and he had been accepted into law school when four of his paintings were sold at an airport restaurant. That was all the incentive he needed to begin his work as a fine art painter.
Bill Phillips is now the aviation artist of choice for many American heroes and the nostalgic landscape artist of choice for many collectors. Bill’s strengths as a landscape painter are what gave him an edge in the aviation field: respect and reverence for a time and place. When one sees his aviation pieces, thoughts are about the courageous individuals who risked their lives for our freedom. In Bill’s nostalgic works, the viewer understands fully what that freedom is... the precious values that make life worth living.
After one of his paintings was presented to King Hussein of Jordan, Phillips was commissioned by the Royal Jordanian Air Force. He developed sixteen major paintings, many of which now hang in the Royal Jordanian Air Force Museum in Amman. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum presented a one-man show of Phillips’ work in 1986; he is one of only a few artists to have been so honored.
In 1988, Phillips was chosen to be a U.S. Navy combat artist. For his outstanding work, the artist was awarded the Navy’s Meritorious Public Service Award and the Air Force Sergeants Association’s Americanism Medal. In 1991, three of Phillips’ works were chosen as part of the top 100 in “Art for the Parks,” the prestigious annual fund-raiser for the National Park Service, and one painting received the “Art History Award” from the National Park Foundation.
In William S. Phillips' Returning Fire, the Black Hawk crew assigned to the 101st Airborne takes evasive action and releases flares and machine gun fire after being fired upon during a sortie late in the day over Iraq.
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a twin-turbine engine, single rotor, semi-monocoque fuselage, rotary wing helicopter. The medium-lift utility or assault helicopter was the winner of a United States Army competition in the late 1970s to replace the Huey (UH-1) family. Although the two final competing designs were both developed to Army specifications, the UH-60 was selected over an entry from Boeing-Vertol. It would go on to serve as the basis for variants in service with other branches of the US military. The Black Hawk can perform a wide array of missions, including the tactical transport of troops, electronic warfare and aero medical evacuation. In air assault operations it can move a squad of 11 combat troops with equipment, with advanced avionics and electronics provide increased survivability and capability.
This 16" by 12" print, limited to 250, is signed by the artist.
All Limited Edition prints are signed and numbered (S/N) by the artist. Limited Edition prints are restricted to a certain number. For example, if 400 prints are made from an original painting, once they’re gone, that’s it. There is no limit to the number of open edition prints of a particular painting. That’s why Limited Edition prints are more expensive — and more valuable to collectors — than "open" edition. Rare objects are more valuable.
All Limited Edition artwork is subject to availability at time of order. Although seller strives to remain currrent as to inventory, seller reserves the right to cancel a sale if item is no longer available at time of purchase.
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