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Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

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Sorry, It's Sold

Underground Angels

Artist:Mort Künstler
Date:1965
Medium:Gouache on Illlustration Board
Dimensions:Sight Size 12" X 18" Framed 20" X 26"
Condition:Mint
Original Use:Cover Art for For Men Only Magazine
Price: Sold
Full view of gouache painting
Full view of gouache painting
Artist's signature
Artist’s signature
Detail
Detail

A bizarre and gritty subway terror scene by Mort Kunstler from the “War at Home” genre prevalent in 1960s Men’s Magazine art. The image depicts the climactic moment in Nicholas Baehr’s story “Ride With Terror” which was soon to be adapted for the screen with Beau Bridges in the role of the heroic service man squaring off against thugs Martin Sheen and Tony Musante. This envisioning shows the toughs in their best Lords of Flatbush garb accosting a pretty mod damsel. The square jawed, uniformed early Vietnam era soldier commands the foreground in this archetypical depiction of the ongoing culture war of the 60s. This is an electric work; if you are a fan of the genre, this gouache painting has it all. This was used as a May cover “For Men Only Magazine” with the title “Underground Angels Who Terrorized New York’s Subways.”

Detail
Detail
The painting as it appeared as the Cover "For Men Only"
The painting as it appeared as the Cover “For Men Only”
Full Matted View
Full Matted View
Detail
Detail

An explosive confrontation that captures the prevailing nihilism associated with the 1960s “sweat magazine” art and envelope-pushing adventure fiction. A tense and hyper-realistic pop-art time capsule.

In the 1960s and 1970s, men’s magazines exploited Cold War tensions and capitalized on prevalent working class American fears. “The Sweats,” as they are commonly known, followed the blueprint set by the pulp magazines of the previous generation, depicting perceived enemies as savages, Nazis, and Communist torturers.
Leading illustrators in this strangely subversive genre, such as Norman Saunders, James Bama, Norm Eastman, Rafael DeSota and Mort Kunstler, created sensational, figurative illustrations executed in a style markedly similar to Socialist Realism and its associated propaganda imagery.

Above: Verso notations in the artist’s hand and 1965 Date and usage

In Adam Parfey’s 2003 coffee table book It’s A Man’s World; Men’s Adventure Magazines, The Postwar Pulps; where this gouache work is featured in a full page color-plate. The writer states “Consumerism, the specifically American style of propaganda best promoted by the work of Mort Kunstler in the 50’s and beyond, is an aesthetic limited by little beyond the ability to sell a magazine, though it rhetorically promoted the idea that America no matter it’s behavior was always morally superior. Other political beliefs, Nazism and Communism particularly, were by the conduct of their soldiers always portrayed as being perverse, ruthless and vicious. The racial component and sadistic misogyny of men’s magazines from the 50’s, the 60’s and even the 70’s is today astounding.”

“What’s also astounding is the imagination of the illustrations, all tractioned by the ability to depict fear. Fear of enemies, fear of animals, fear of women, fear of any loaded attack on the buyer’s manliness.”

Underground Angels

Artist: Mort Künstler
Price:  Sold

Filed Under: Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: 1960s, american, cold war, For Men Only, magazine cover, Mort Künstler, original cover art, pin up, pulp, the sweats
Added to Gallery: January 12, 2010

 

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    About Grapefruit Moon Gallery

    Grapefruit Moon Gallery, based in Minneapolis MN, specializes in vintage pin up and original illustration art.  We are the proud home of the Bunny Yeager archives.

    Since 2003, Grapefruit Moon Gallery has been a leading dealer of exclusive original paintings by Gil Elvgren, Alberto Vargas, Earl Moran, Rolf Armstrong and Henry Clive, as well as vintage photographs, prints, and period decorative arts in ceramic and metal.

    All artworks featured are original, accurately represented, and guaranteed to be the work of the named artist.

    Interested buyers may view pieces by appointment and we are happy to answer any questions you may have. [Contact Us]

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