Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
Along with developments in lithography that led many leading talents of the day into careers as illustrators, the 20th century saw innovations in photography, printmaking, and design that revolutionized fine, public, and decorative art. Below, you will see showcased original artworks from the Art Nouveau, American Arts & Crafts, Art Deco, WPA-era and beyond.
A large ethereal and transcendent fantasy themed pastel by Frederick Stuart Church firmly planted in the then dominant Art Nouveau movement. Four angelic maidens emerge from graceful flowing lines conjured mid flight, the artwork highlights the artist’s soothing and decorative palette and imaginative sense of composition.
Artist: Frederick Stuart Church
A mixed media work by Alton S. Tobey in pencil and oils depicting a pair of African American Navy Midshipmen toiling at work. This work from the WPA era is handsomely framed in a period wide profile gesso frame behind glass.
Artist: Alton Tobey
Featuring a Depression-era machinist at work creating a Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine, this 1940 artwork by WPA artist Alton Tobey combines the unusual muted palate and composition of the regionalist movement with the dystopian feel of the surrealists. This powerful oil on canvas was created for the East Hartford Pratt & Whitney plant, and presents a deeply moving picture of industrialism in the lead up to World War II.
Artist: Alton Tobey
This exceptionally large oil on canvas mural by Henry Clive was created for the long gone legendary Hollywood Boulevard haunt “The Jade Lounge.” Titled “The Buddha-Pest,” the image acted as a logo for the bar, with matchbooks and post cards created with its likeness to attract tourists. The Jade Lounge became a destination and this monumental painting remained a focal point of the restaurant for decades. Henry Clive executed several murals for Hollywood nightclubs, and for The Masquers Club, Hollywood’s oldest theatrical club.
Artist: Henry Clive
A dazzling and erotic oil on canvas by Earl Moran of the platinum bombshell Marilyn Monroe in the nude. Dated 1960 on verso stretcher bar, and marked “Aaron Brothers #646″on back of canvas. During the 1940’s a radiant Norma Jean was Earl Moran’s favorite pin-up model and a number of Brown & Bigelow Calendar works were commissioned featuring the then unknown red headed pin-up model. Earl Moran left the hectic schedule and deadlines of a calendar illustrator in the late 1950’s and moved to California and started working exclusively in oils and created a series of boudoir posed erotically charged nude works that sold to patrons of the arts through an arrangement with The Aaron Brothers Galleries.
Artist: Earl Moran
A large and expertly rendered pastel on illustration board by Hungarian artist Pal Fried. Fried, who commonly worked in oils, was equally adept with pastels and this is a fine offering revisiting one of his favorite themes; a young ballerina in anticipation of her performance. Work is nicely matted and framed and in an excellent state of preservation.
Artist: Pal Fried
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A large oil on canvas of a pensive young nude by noted American illustrator and artist Guy Hoff. Hoff was a prolific illustrator whose paintings illustrated covers of The Saturday Evening Post, Liberty, Judge and The American Magazine.
Artist: Guy Hoff
This kinetic and bold original oil on canvas depicts a moment from choreographer and dancer Katharine Dunham’s seminal avant garde revue Bal Negre. With its unique color palate and unexpected perspective, the painting evokes the excitement of the Hot Jazz modern dance which reached its peak at the moment the artist moved to the United States. Pal Fried was known for his unsurpassed ability to capture the emotion of dance, and this painting proves his mastery with its physicality and vanguard beauty.
Artist: Pal Fried
A charming original oil on canvas by the hotly collected artist Pal Fried. A well rendered and colorful depiction of four young ballerinas at dance class. Fried, an artist of the Hungarian school, was known as an important figure painter, and most often depicted beautiful young women, nudes, ballerinas, Parisian society women, western scenes, horse racing, and an occasional seascape. His oil paintings and pastels have gained much deserved recognition and notoriety and are increasingly desirable.
Artist: Pal Fried
A large impressionist pastel by Leon Dolice with an electric view of an illuminated New York City skyline, looking down Madison Avenue towards Chelsea’s Flatiron building. Leon Dolice spent over 60 years painting New York City landscapes, borrowing from the French Impressionists and Claude Monet specifically. He depicted his beloved Manhattan in varying lighting and color combinations, capturing the extreme skyscrapers and machine age industrialism which transformed the New York skyline during the art deco jazz age.
Artist: Leon Dolice
