This uninhibited and seedy painting by Raymond Johnson appeared as the cover of the 1953 Avon Books Paperback edition of The Untamed Wife Of Louis Scott. Originally published in 1950 under the title The Gift Of Glory, this W. Carrol Monroe novel told the story of Susan Scott, a dope fiend hedonist living a wanton life in post war America.  Though the back cover quote, “I had found Susan, in a tight black dress, her legs sprawled under a dinky table. her eyelids were blued, her cheeks rouged up to her eyes and her mouth was a scarlet blotch. She looked tense, alive and vicious. She was a dope addict…” presents a harrowing picture of drug culture, the cover art presents a far more alluring picture of life on the edge. This is a tremendously provocative and well realized example of sleaze paperback cover art, and comes from the collection of Bob and Diane Yaspan.