The Grand Age of American Illustration was at its peak after the turn of the century in the early 1900s. The printing industry with its technological advancements and the American Industrial Revolution made for a multicolor offset printing process that was fast, affordable, and flat-out glorious in print. Cover artists were much in demand, earned lavish salaries and often became household names and stars in their own right. The distinction between fine art and "art for commerce" was blurred and artists like Alphonse Mucha, Maxfield Parrish, Norman Rockwell, and countless others excelled in both realms. These often lost original paintings are available exclusively via Grapefruit Moon Gallery.

La Coquette Alberto Vargas	Princess Pat Flapper Girl F. Earl Christy

A delightful New years Day 1917 illustration in pen & ink by noted female artist and illustrator Nell Brinkley titled Happiness A Plenty. This finds the New Years Baby scene adapted to a young couple who are finding the joys of home and hearth that much more appealing with their new born cherubic smiling infant welcomed into the world. Signed lower middle and matted and framed in a simple black wood frame.

A comic illustration in pen & ink by noted New York illustrator John Held Jr. This was published in the newspaper "The Westport Herald", with commentary on the Saugatuck River and pollution issues of the time in Connecticut. Caption reads "Hey Buddy How Can I Find The Saugatuck? Follow Your Nose!" Matted and framed and signed lower right by the artist.

A large and magnificent rare surviving signed F. Earl Christy pastel advertising illustration on canvas for "The Princess Pat" Cosmetic Company. A defining glamorous pin-up girl with a chic and elegantly sophisticated jazz-age style and modernist machine age aesthetic. F. Earl Christy was a prolific early 1900's illustrator who's career spanned four decades. We rarely come across his original works this is an estate fresh large and luminous example from his best period nicely matted and framed in a pristine state of original conservation.

An unusual and impacting Edwin Georgi interior illustration that appeared in The March 1952 Edition of Cosmopolitan Magazine in a story titled "The Coward". A luminous and other wordly Georgi-girl seemingly kissing an enlisted soldier engaged in fierce combat goodbye.

An early 1900's original illustration by Orson Lowell depicting a group of young boys taking in a baseball game knot-hole style. Major League Baseball of course still uses the term when larger ticket buys of youth groups are involved. I had never made a connection with the visual here, that the term stemmed from young boys peering through knot holes in the lumber used to build the outfield fences. A nostalgic Americana, baseball themed work by the gifted and prolific important golden age illustrator. Nicely matted and framed and ready to enjoy.

A colorful and festive original gouache painting by the prolific Hungarian artist Willy Pogany for an as of yet undetermined interior book plate illustration. A courting scene with a knight and princess assembled in a far away idyllic surround. The verso is notated with "pg. 26" this was a published work it is boldly signed lower right and nicely matted with a silk mat and framed behind glass.

A whimsical roaring twenties stylized art deco pen & ink illustration by John Held Jr. for "Dutton's Au Revoir Boxes". Framed with the original box label this was created for, a nautically themed work with a sailor and his flapper girl sweetie. The Park Avenue, New York company manufactured durable boxes that were to be used in cruise ship travel. From the Charles Martignette estate.

A rare surviving mixed medium calendar commissioned painting for "American Art Works Company". A Great Depression-era 1930s art deco work by L. Goddard of a lovely young Indian maiden drawing back cupid's bow and taking aim. This large impressive work is beautifully framed and matted and ready to hang in a period ornate carved wood gold frame.

A luminous and sensational oil on canvas by Charles Edward Chambers, a masterful magazine and advertising illustrator of the jazz age. Chambers created this remarkable, highly sensuous Polynesian enchantress scene as a commissioned interior magazine illustration, likely for Cosmopolitan where he was under exclusive contract for many years. This uninhibited and erotic island dance scene is one of Chambers' finest paintings, and a masterful example of early 20th century exoticism in illustration.

An allegorical angelic scene by noted American fine artist, muralist, and illustrator Charles Allen Winter titled "Liberty Unchained." Our research leads us to believe this was an interior magazine illustration for Cosmopolitan, which ran a series of spiritually relevant writings by Roycroft founder and early twentieth century philosopher Elbert Hubbard under the title "Little Sermons"--all illustrated by Winter. Several of Winter's "Sermons" paintings were then reproduced in Hubbard's own publication "The Fra." From the estate of Charles Martignette, the sadly departed author of the "The Great American Pin-Up."