MILTON WOLSKY
Former UNO student Milton Wolsky served during World War II not with a gun, but with paper and paint. An artist, Wolsky during the war was a technician fourth grade with the Eighth Army Engineers drawing maps and creating book illustrations. When the war ended and the United States began rebuilding Japan, Wolsky was there to document the work in sketches. Some of his drawings were published in the book, “Engineers of the Eighth U.S. Army in Action: A Portfolio of Sketches.” His watercolor from that time, “Yokohoma Shrine,” won the coveted Frederick Whitaker award from the New York City chapter of the American Artists Professionals in 1946. “Sultan Ahmet” (The Blue Mosque) was displayed in the U.S. Embassy in Turkey and traveled the circuit of embassies in the Mid East before returning to Wolsky in 1977. Several of his pieces from this period are in the United States Air Force Society’s National Museum. After World War II, Wolsky moved to New York City and became one of the nation’s top magazine illustrators, regularly appearing in Time, Collier’s, Esquire, LIFE, the Saturday Evening Post and others. He returned to Omaha and continued his work until he died in 1981. The bulk of his work now is owned by ARTicles Gallery in Omaha.