During the First World War he served with the American Engineering Forces in France, first as a sergeant and then as a commissioned second Lieutenant.
After the armistice in 1918 he remained in Europe, and from March to June 1919 attended the art school opened for American soldiers at the A.E.F.
In September 1919 he was demobilized from the army and study design in Italy and illustration in Spain and the United Kingdom.
Unable to work as an architect, he began making signs in English for the millinery shops along the Rue de Rivoli, which led in time to advertisements and designs[2] for some of the fashionable houses along the rue de la Paix and the Place Vendôme.
He etched many architectural images of France and Italian cities and American centers such as New York, Chicago, and Pittsburg.