Above: Full view of pastel

Above: The artist’s signature lower right

Above: The September 1933 edition of Screenland

Above: Framed and matted in handsome gallery frame behind glass

A rare surviving luminous pastel portrait of early talkie era legendary Hollywood film star Katharine Hepburn, created as the cover for the September 1933 issue of Screenland magazine. An excellent example of cover portraiture by Charles Gates Sheldon who had a very prolific career creating stylized glamorous art deco Hollywood film star portraits for many of the leading jazz age movie magazine titles. Though Hepburn’s face graced the cover of this issue, 1933 marked the beginning of Hollywood’s character assassination of the proto-feminist Hepburn, who was decried as haughty, strange, and cold for her shyness, and habit of dressing in menswear. Even the text visible on the cover beneath her beguiling image suggests this turn, asking the reader “Is Katharine Hepburn a Movie Bubble?”

Above: Detail

Above: View before framing

Pastel is beautifully framed and silk matted behind glass.

Above: Frame profile

Above: Frame profile and corner detail

Recently many examples of Sheldon’s Hollywood movie magazine portraiture have sold at auction from the Charles Martignette estate collection, comparables of other top notch works by the artist including the portrait of Katharine Hepburn (also for Screenland Magazine) shown below have sold in recent years for as much as $17,930.00 at auction.

Above: Charles Sheldon pastel of Katharine Hepburn sold for $17,930.00

Above: Charles Sheldon pastel of Clara Bow sold for $17,930.00

Above: Charles Sheldon pastel of Jean Harlow sold for $15,540.00

This is an important and rare surviving Hollywood tinsel town era Golden Age of Illustration treasure that is in a very fine state of conservation.