A jovial, large format oil painting by Harold H.W. McCauley which appeared as the May 1955 cover of Imaginative Tales, a Greenleaf Publishing title. The image is a whimsical self-portrait, the artist appears as the 1950s everyman enjoying a night on the town after a hard day’s work. His wife sits atop his shoulders–a classic “Mac girl” pin-up bombshell getting the ride of her life while holding a martini and offering the viewer a sly wink.
The image illustrates the title story “The Miracle of Ronald Weems,” a farcical Robert Bloch tale of a science-minded brassiere salesman who invents a cocktail that literally gets him flying high. In all regards this is a soaring example of McCauley’s talent and a deftly rendered painting that even gets a rise out of the tenement buildings in the foreground, as they tilt upwards to check out the spectacle. Painting is handsomely framed under glass and in a fine state of conservation. A complete high grade copy of the published pulp magazine is included in the sale.