Visions from a Foxhole: The Wartime Sketches of William Foley

Sketch Artist Rifleman

Visions from a Foxhole includes more than 40 works in pencil, ink, and oil created by William Foley, infantryman in World War II. Many come from the sketchbook he carried during the war; others show the reflections of a veteran over the decades after his service. 

This exhibit evokes the scarred winter landscape of the 94th Infantry Division's push to the Rhine, from shattered cities and blackened forests to the trenches where Foley and his fellow soldiers dug in for battle. There are also a number of personal vignettes of life on the front lines, as soldiers catch a chicken for dinner, take prisoners, explore a soap factory, and stand watch by a wrecked farmhouse. For a time, though his memories of the war were vivid, Foley could only recreate them in black and white.

 The Pritzker Military Library is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, and admission is free.