Enchantment

Full view

The artist's signature lower left

Enchantment is a large and important painting by Edward Eggleston, which was published by the American Art Works Calendar Company in the early 1930s. In part as an escapist response to the Great Depression, the 1930s saw a huge trend of calendar art featuring exotic fantasy-themed, ethereal and breezy images of harem attired pin-up girls, and Egyptian goddesses, and mythical nudes. This particular example shows a nude water nymph bending over to kiss a little frog (sure to soon become a prince). The scene is captured in a Maxfield Parrish-like surrealist and pleasing yet electric color scheme. In 1931, Maxfield Parrish famously declared "I am done with girls on rocks", leaving a void for his immensely popular nude fantasy maiden works of the 1920s. Edward Eggleston -- a gifted and well-established artist in his own right -- seems to have taken that declaration as direct inspiration for much of his calendar work. Eggleston is best remembered today for his Atlantic City Resort advertising posters of the 1930s which all featured stylized opulent bathing beauty pin-up girls. This is just a remarkable work of art and likely the finest surviving Eggleston painting to come on the market. Painting is in excellent condition and has been relined and is handsomely framed in a wide profile gold wood gallery frame and ready to display.

Detail

Detail

Verso view of relined back canvas on original pine stretcher bars