MARITIME

Maritime subject matter was a major source of inspiration for James Milton Sessions, from oceans to lakes and sailboats to schooners. While many works illustrate the stillness of boats docked in the harbor, others display the energy and precariousness of manning a ship at sea.

CITIES & TOWNS

Spanning from quaint fishing villages to major metropolitan industrial centers, such as the early twentieth century in Chicago, these images illustrate Sessions’ interest in the intersection between nature, community, and the built environment.

FIELD & GAME

Vibrant illustrations of fishing and hunting appear throughout Session’s body of work, and several appeared in Field & Stream magazine.

MILITARY

Including depictions of both WWI and WWII, these graphic artworks reveal the complicated, dangerous and chaotic environment of battle and the new technologies that were at play. His 1944 illustration of the U.S. Navy capture of the U505 submarine is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.

AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

Interested in the American Southwest, Sessions created a series of works depicting life on Navajo reservations.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Sessions maintained a close personal relationship with Colonel Robert McCormick, former owner and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. A 1952 painting depicting a dramatic meeting between Abraham Lincoln and Tribune leaders, Joseph Medill and Charles Ray, in 1860 is held in the collections of the Museums at Cantigny in Wheaton, IL.

STILL LIFES

In addition to his works depicting action and adventure, Sessions created warm and rich still lifes brimming with fruit and flowers. In some works, you can see Sessions himself appearing in a reflected surface.

SKETCHES

A prolific sketcher, these works reveal Sessions’ process for developing and bringing his illustrations to fruition.