During World War II, the automotive company Studebaker built nearly 68,000 R-1820 engines from one of its production plants in South Bend, Indiana. By the end of the war it was the major producer of the engine, the R-1820-97 version, that was installed on B-17Gs.

Studebaker published numerous advertisements during the war that featured the B-17. All or nearly all the artwork for the advertised was painted by a then-well known artist named Frederic Tellander.

This website provides a brief history of Telander, part of which is:

“Frederic Tellander was born in Paxton Illinois in 1878. He was a largely self-taught artist, who achieved national acclaim for his paintings during the 1920s and ’30s. While recognized as an important Chicago artist, he traveled abroad and frequently painted in Paris between the wars. He is best known for his triumphant views of both Paris and Chicago. Tellander also painted as a commercial artist and completed numerous print advertisements for the Studebaker Corporation, especially those created during WWII featuring the B-17 bomber, the ‘Flying Fortress.'”

I was recently contacted by JC Dennewitz who provided a personal connection to the Studebaker advertisements and the paintings done by Tellander. His email explained the connection through his father in law, James W. Orr, and I thought it worth a posting:

“James W Orr was a B-17 pilot.  He flew his first mission over Frankfurt Germany on September 25, 1944. He few his 25^th mission over Nurnberg on February 21, 1945. After the war he joined the Studebaker corporation as their marketing director.  During the war Studebaker had numerous paintings completed by an artist named Fredrick Tellander. A number of paintings featured B-17’s. Studebaker made engines for B-17’s and the paintings were subsequently used to advertise Studebakers effort to help win the war. Having been a B-17 pilot, Studebaker gave James Orr the painting at some point in his employment.  The painting remains in the family today as a proud reminder of what these men did and what they went through.“

James W. Orr was a pilot who flew with the 544th Bomb Squadron, 384th Bomb Group, based at Grafton Underwood in the UK. More information on Capt. Orr can be found on this 384th Bomb Group page.

So, the family holds the original painting done by Tellander, and its nice that they know the history of the connection between James Orr and Frederic Tellander.