| The National War Poster Competition was administered by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in 1942. Henry Koerner (August 28, 1915 – July 4, 1991) won an award with this poster, “Someone Talked!” and soon after began working for the Office of War Information. He draws a direct link between the military disaster and the person who talked, fostering the idea of individual responsibility for security. He points the finger (shaped out of cut newspaper), not accusingly towards the viewer, but down on the scurrying figure. The consequences of careless talk are spelled out in the text of the newspaper article (avoiding unpopular depictions of death). At the same time, the figure of the guilty man casts an ominously long shadow. “Someone Talked!” was exhibited at MOMA from November 25, 1942, to January 3, 1943. 2,224 entries were received, and 200 were exhibited. All of the 9 prize-winning posters were reproduced in quantity for distribution throughout the country by the Office of Civilian Defense. Koerner, an Austrian Jew, fled Vienna in September 1938, following Anschluss in March. He 1st went to Italy and then immigrated to New York. He achieved initial success as a poster artist, winning 1st prize in the American Society of the Control of Cancer Poster Competition and 2 1st prizes in the National War Poster Competition. In 1943, the Office of War Information hired Koerner in its graphics division in New York. Enlisting in the United States Army in 1944, he worked in the graphics division of the Office of Strategic Services. After the war, Koerner found that most of his family had died in the Holocaust. He exhibited in Berlin, the 1st American neo-realist to do so after the war. Koerner was Artist-in-Residence at Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He frequently created covers for TIME Magazine in the fifties and sixties. Koerner was killed in a hit-and-run accident while visiting Austria. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1622.jpg |
| Image Size | 564.39 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2058 x 2946 |
| Photographer | Henry Koerner |
| Photographer Title | Office of War Information |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | February 24, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | New York |
| State or Province | New York |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-44-PA-372 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database