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Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

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Sorry, It's Sold

The Scarlet Slippers

Artist:James Alfred Meese
Date:1952
Medium:Gouache on Illustration Board
Dimensions:Sight Size 8 3/4" X 13 3/4" Framed 20 1/4" X 24 3/4"
Condition:Excellent
Original Use:Cover for the Dell Paperback - The Scarlet Slippers
Full view of cover illustration
The artist’s initials (paperback index page lists James Meese as the cover artist)
The published Dell Paperback – 1952(included in sale)

 

Johnny & Suzy Marshall are the protagonists of a series of pulp paperback mystery potboilers, created as the suburban counterpart to Dashiell Hammet’s Thin Man characters Nick and Nora Charles.

In this gouache-on-board cover illustration for 1952’s The Scarlet Slipper, James Meese captures the unique mixture of the American homestead with a tough-talking private eye in the mix. With Suzy Marshall shown coming across the corpse of a beautiful young woman in a nylon and lace nightgown and satin slippers, and Johnny in the background looking on impassively, Meese suggests the fearlessness of the heroine and film noir style of the rugged private eye with classic thriller paperback style.

The work is handsomely framed and ready to hang, with a vintage copy of the Dell paperback included with sale.

Professionally framed under glass view
Detail

The Scarlet Slippers

Artist: James Alfred Meese

Filed Under: Paperback & Pulp Art, Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: 1950s, James Alfred Meese, lurid, original cover art, paperback, pulp, risque
Added to Gallery: April 13, 2018

 

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