Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

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A stunning, highly detailed, bizarre, and erotic work by the brilliant illustrator Fortunio Matanio. This historically accurate and technically remarkable drawing depicts a climactic scene from Machiavelli’s The Prince. Text on verso reads “Gio Matteo Curing the daughter of Amedia.” The scene depicts an erotic yet twisted exorcism, which is both incredibly intricate and almost photo-realistic in composition. This most likely was created to accompany an excerpt from Machiavelli’s Renaissance masterpiece printed in Britannia & Eve Magazine.

Gio Matteo Curing the Daughter of Amedia

Artist: Fortunio Matania

An original pen and ink drawing from Nell Brinkley one of the premier female figures of the “Golden Age of American Illustration” that appeared originally in the William Randolph Hearst publication New York Journal-American newspaper during the 1920s or 1930s.

Three Stages of Life

Artist: Nell Brinkley

A large American impressionist oil painting by the well listed illustrator Edmund Davenport. A frequent cover artist for a number of Golden Age of Illustration glossy magazine titles, Davenport excelled at this manner of romancing the celebratory moments of life without resorting to obvious sentimentalism. This well realized and luminous work utilizes an impasto technique and a lush fall color palette and was used as the cover for the November 1928 Thanksgiving cover for The American Magazine.

Thanksgiving Day Harvest

Artist: Edmund Davenport

A dashing original pastel illustration, a scarce surviving Golden Age of Hollywood cover portrait of the lovely Marion Davies. Davies, a true film legend, is captured in an opulent and unabashedly art deco pose by frequent 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 Dashing Marion Davies

Artist: Charles Sheldon

This original gouache painting by Harry Bennett was used as cover art for the Pyramid paperback publication of “Cry Shame” written by Gore Vidal under the pseudonym Katherine Everard. During his early career, Vidal published under several pseudonyms in order to evade the accusation that the rate of his publishing made it impossible for him to be a “serious” literary author. This is a singular opportunity to own an original piece of both illustration art and literary history, from the estate of Charles Martignette.

Cry Shame

Artist: Harry Bennett

Willy Müller-Gera (1887-1981) was a German artist and illustrator whose work is visible in museums across Europe. Müller-Gera is known for his etchings and landscapes of the pastoral German countryside as well as apocalyptic renderings such as this work. Titled Faun this is an unusual finely detailed artwork in a modernist, art deco, avant-garde aesthetic. Nicely framed in a period art deco antique frame and ready to enjoy.

Faun

Artist: Willy Müller-Gera

A whimsical and highly stylized 1926 original illustration by Brooklyn New York artist Clarence “Polly” Hill. An 18th Century Style French corseted Courtesan and her attendant. This work was seemingly originally intended for a perfume or toiletry commission. Similar in style to Brunellesci, George Lepape, Eduardo Benito, George Plank and Erte whose work appeared in such periodicals as Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines.

18th Century Courtesan

Artist: Clarence Polly Hill

A large, inventive, and whimsical oil painting featuring a nude goddess disguised within a snow covered mountain landscape. Signed by the well-listed artist Sigurd Skou, verso is titled “Hills in Norway.” Skou was born in Norway and studied with Anders Zorn in Stockholm and Paris. Throughout his career he traveled extensively and truly lived the artist’s life staying active in bohemian circles in New York, France and Chicago.

Hills in Norway

Artist: Sigurd Skou

Grapefruit Moon Gallery just unearthed a small collection of original Campbell’s Soup Kids illustrations. These appeared as print ads in countless American mainstream publications such as The Saturday Evening Post in the 1930s. In this offering a Dolly Dingle-type Campbell’s Soup Kid puts her doll to bed. Accompanying text reads; “Not a drop of Campbell’s left upon her spoon, So the good old sand man’s Coming mighty soon!” Nicely matted and framed behind glass with typewritten caption window.

Sand Man’s Coming Soon

Artist: School of Grace Drayton

 

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