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These are two rare limited-edition B.P. Christenson WWII 101st Airborne prints.
The artist is T/Sgt. Burton “Pat” Christenson, a 101st Airborne / Easy Company 506 PIR combat veteran and the only combat artist in Easy Company. He jumped into Normandy immediately behind Dick Winters and later completed a series of 46 drawings from memory based on his wartime experiences.
The D-Day image is particularly important. Christenson’s own archive identifies the Plane 526 Normandy drawing as an image published in Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers and connected with the history of Easy Company. Dick Winters reportedly kept copies of Christenson’s drawings and used them as research material connected with the Band of Brothers production. Winters is also quoted in the Christenson archive as saying: “Guard those paintings. Their true value will be realized by collectors of war memorabilia all over the world.”
1. “D-DAY JUNE 6th 1944 – NORMANDY FRANCE”
This one depicts the chaos of the airborne assault during D-Day:
* A troop transport marked 526
* Paratroopers jumping and descending
* Explosions and ground fire below
* Aircraft overhead
* The invasion force scattered across the Normandy countryside
The printed inscription tells a particularly interesting story: the artist describes how the paratroopers became scattered over many miles and how, in some areas, the Germans were firing at men while they were still descending.
This copy is marked 503/1000 and signed by B.P. Christenson.
2. “FEAR”
This one is more personal and psychological. Rather than showing just the battle itself, Christenson focused on what a combat paratrooper feels while descending into enemy territory.
The caption essentially describes fear as something experienced by everyone in combat, but to different degrees—and the terrifying realization of seeing other soldiers around you being hit while knowing you may be next.
This copy is also 503/1000, and it is signed by Christenson.
These images represent a firsthand visual record created by a man who jumped into Normandy with the 101st Airborne and later became connected to the historical record of Easy Company and Band of Brothers. That is a completely different collecting category than a generic aviation artist producing a WWII scene decades later.
I am the original owner of these prints and have an email receipt of the original purchase and some email correspondence with B.P. Christenson’s son Tim
*sorry for the wrenches on the D-Day print. It had been rolled up and in a cardboard tube and wouldn’t lay flat.
