Above: Detail

Above: The artists signature and decorative painted border work

A colorful and festive original gouache painting by the prolific Hungarian artist Willy Pogany for an as of yet undetermined interior book plate illustration. A courting scene with a knight and princess assembled in a far away idyllic surround. The verso is notated with “pg. 26,” as this was a published work. Boldly signed lower right and nicely matted with a silk mat and framed behind glass.

Above: Full view of gouche painting

Above: Verso notation

Above: Framed and matted and ready to hang

Above: Frame detail with silk matting

Born in Szeged, Hungary, he became one of the better known and successful illustrators of the Golden Age of Illustration, completing over 100 books. Among them are A Treasury of Verse for Little Children, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. He is probably best known for pen and ink drawings of mythology subjects geared towards children.

He studied at Budapest Technical University and attended art schools in Munich and Paris before moving to London at age 23. In 1907, he began illustrating children’s books and did a series of annual gift books, special deluxe editions.

He was not a British citizen, and soon after World War I began, he emigrated with his family to New York City and became a permanent resident there. He continued illustrating books and also designed scenery and costumes for the Metropolitan Opera House and mural decorations for public and private residences including that of William Randolph Hurst. For a period he lived in Hollywood and did celebrity portraits and set designs before returning to New York where he died on July 30, 1955.