A dashing original pastel illustration, a scarce surviving Golden Age of Hollywood cover portrait of the lovely Marion Davies. Davies, a true film legend seen dressed to the nines is captured in an opulent and unabashedly art deco over the shoulder pose by frequent Golden-era tinsel town illustrator Charles Gates Sheldon. This large and inventive work was used as the March 1936 cover of Movie Classic magazine. Pastel is in a fine original state of conservation and framed and matted behind glass in an an ornate gesso period antique frame. A copy of the published magazine is included in the sale.

Above: Marion Davies as photographed by Charles Sheldon in his Carnegie Hall studio

Though Charles Gates Sheldon maintained a studio in New York City at Carnegie Hall, his list of sitters reads like a “who’s who” of Golden Age Hollywood. Working from life, he created hundreds of stylized glamorous pastel cover portraits for the various movie titles of the era. His subjects included Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow, Joan Crawford, Katherine Hepburn, Mae West, Carole Lombard and dozens of other studio stars.
Recent auction records on the artist top out at $17,935.00 for a similar pastel portrait of Katherine Hepburn created the same year as this work.