As CIA officers wander the Agency’s legendary HQ in Langley, Virginia, they absorb culture at every turn. From the Kryptos sculpture at the entrance to the Directors’ portrait gallery and modern masters, the Agency boasts a sneaky selection of art including one gallery that’s home to ‘The Operational Collection’.
The unique Operational Gallery - just around the corner from the CIA Memorial Wall - includes more than 20 artworks that reflect peacetime and war operations. Unsurprisingly for an Agency on the move, much of the art depicts action.
“The Agency uses these artworks to strengthen and communicate its identity and corporate culture, providing a link for incoming officers to connect to the history of the organization,” explains SPYEX consultant Doug Patteson, a retired CIA case officer who last visited HQ in 2020.
Patteson has interviewed some of the paintings’ subjects and the artists for his blog and has prints from about half of the collection at home.
As CIA officers wander the Agency’s legendary HQ in Langley, Virginia, they absorb culture at every turn. From the Kryptos sculpture at the entrance to the Directors’ portrait gallery and modern masters, the Agency boasts a sneaky selection of art including one gallery that’s home to ‘The Operational Collection’.
The unique Operational Gallery - just around the corner from the CIA Memorial Wall - includes more than 20 artworks that reflect peacetime and war operations. Unsurprisingly for an Agency on the move, much of the art depicts action.
“The Agency uses these artworks to strengthen and communicate its identity and corporate culture, providing a link for incoming officers to connect to the history of the organization,” explains SPYEX consultant Doug Patteson, a retired CIA case officer who last visited HQ in 2020.
Patteson has interviewed some of the paintings’ subjects and the artists for his blog and has prints from about half of the collection at home.
One of the best-known images involves the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA, Patteson said.
Les Marguerites Fleuriront ce Soir (2006), by Jeffrey W. Bass, is a portrait of then 35-year-old Virginia Hall in occupied France in 1944. The radio operator and spy worked for both the British Special Operations Executive and American OSS.
Bass’ painting depicts her transmitting a coded message on her suitcase radio while her partner powers the radio’s generator with a bicycle crank. Les Marguerites Fleuriront ce Soir (in English, ‘the daisies will bloom at night’) refers to the coded messages Hall transmitted in France and received from London.
Ambush in Manchuria
Ambush in Manchuria
Much of the collection is by Dru Blair, a South Carolina painter whose work has also graced Air Force Magazine covers. The idea for the Operational Callery started in 2000 with Erik Kirzinger, a civilian whose uncle died in a 1952 ambush during a CIA ‘snatch and pick-up’ rescue mission in Manchuria, China.
The plan percolated until 2002 when the project received the backing of the ‘seventh floor’ - the CIA Director’s office.
Argo, the Rescue of the Canadian Six, by Deborah D.
Argo
One of the artists, described only as ‘Deborah D.’, immortalized Argo after the daring CIA rescue mission involving six American hostages trapped after the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran. CIA technical officer Tony Mendez disguised the hostages as a Hollywood film crew and smuggled the team out to safety on a Swiss jet.
The Washington Post has identified artist Deborah D. as Deborah Dismuke, the only CIA employee, the first woman, and the only African American with a painting in the agency’s vaunted collection.
The painting is Patteson’s personal favorite: “It captures more of the traditional espionage work which is underrepresented compared to the paramilitary side of the house. I also like it because it portrays Tony Mendez, who I worked for for a short stint.”
A Contingency for Every Action
Still life
A Contingency for Every Action, an oil on canvas by James Dietz, is the first still-life painting in the Agency’s collection.
According to the CIA’s Instagram account, It is also the first to depict the partnership between the Directorate of Support - the ‘first in, last out’ team responsible for security, supply chains, facilities, financial and medical services, and logistics - and the Directorate of Operations. CIA Operations, usually referred to as the Clandestine Service, is the US authority for the “coordination, deconfliction, and evaluation” of clandestine ops across the US intelligence community.
The Airmen’s Bond
Aviation art
Aviation and automotive artist Keith Woodcock has contributed five artworks including The Airmen’s Bond (2008) which depicts an Air America crew in Laos.
Woodcock’s painting focuses on a mission that followed President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 decision to resist communist aggression in the Kingdom of Laos. The CIA and its airline, Air America, flew into the land-locked, mountainous country - amid shifting weather conditions, with few navigational aids - to routinely conduct hazardous resupply missions to remote government outposts.
First Sting
The theater of war
First Sting by Stuart Brown (2008) captures the turning point in the war with Afghanistan, with the first of many Mujahideen fighters with Stinger missiles shooting down Moscow’s helicopter gunships.
While most of the Operational Collection art is donated by the artists or their heirs, there are also several commissioned works from within the Agency that reflect the heritage of various directorates.
Cast of a Few, Courage of a Nation
Paramilitary collaborations
Cast of a Few, Courage of a Nation (2008) by James Dietz commemorates the CIA collaborations with paramilitary intelligence. They operate in remote areas and in missions involving the war on terrorism. The painting also serves as a memorial to fallen colleagues.
Irrawaddy Ambush
OSS Ambush
Irrawaddy Ambush (2010) by Stuart Brown depicts an OSS Detachment 101 guerrilla operation to disrupt Japanese supply and reinforcement routes in Burma. The actions helped the Allies defeat Japanese forces in northern Burma.
Below you will find a list of all of the known paintings in the Operational Collection, as well as the artists’ names. While the CIA’s art can often be found online, you may need to dig deep to find photos of every artwork - after all, the Agency wouldn’t have it any other way.
Doug Patteson is a former CIA case officer and expert on security, intelligence, firearms, hostage advocacy, and entertainment. He can be booked at SPYEX.com to appear at events or consult on entertainment projects.
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