Above: Full View of gouache on illustration board

Above: Framed view in handsome period gesso frame

Above: Detail of Illustration

A colorful, bright and decorative art deco era original gouache illustration painting, created for print use by an as of yet unidentified fruit/produce company. A handsome shirtless native effortlessly navigates a tropical waterway in a fruit filled gondola.

In style and execution, this work is reminiscent of many of the Travel Magazine covers commissioned for print use of the same era. Nicely matted and framed in an art deco period silver gesso handsome wood frame.

A bio on Ellen Barbara Segner

Above: The artists signature

One of the few female pin-up and glamour artists. Her women are out-going and outdoorsy, involved in the type of activities most artists reserved for men, from skiing to shooting.

Still, despite her ability with sporting gals, she’s best remembered for two children-centered icons: Little Miss Sunbeam (the spokesgirl for Quality Bakers’ Sunbeam bread) and the Dick and Jane school readers. The artist also did Calendar work for the Thomas D Murphy Calendar Company, Red Oak, Iowa; during the 1940s.