Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
At the turn of the 20th century, Industrial Revolution inventions brought technological advancements to printmaking that ushered in a Golden Age of American illustration. Publishers and calendar companies developed new techniques for producing multi-color offset lithographs that were fast, affordable, and flat-out glorious to view, blurring the distinction between fine art and "art for commerce." The best examples by the finest commercial illustrators were revered by the public, and today are beloved by collectors.
Post-War Romance and Intrigue This well-rendered gouache illustration by artist and illustrator Wesley Snyder features a bubbly blonde sweetheart in a white tennis skirt and a pink sweater emblazoned with the nickname “killer.” Fresh from the tennis court she stops in a palatial front hall to have a flirtatious word and knowing glance with a […]
Artist: Wesley Snyder
Price: $1,975.00
Art Nouveau Moon Goddess by James Ross Bryson This is a rare surviving pastel by the prolific and inventive early pin-up artist James Ross Bryson. Bryson defined Art Nouveau feminine beauty with his Edwardian views of corseted and lavishly attired, erotic, and bold anti-Victorian maidens. An early star staff artist for the Thomas D. Murphy […]
Artist: J. Ross Bryson
Price: $13,000.00
Portrait of Queen Zenobia This is an original 1960 oil on canvas painting signed and dated by the obscure artist Henry Abraham. Titled “Zenobia”, we believe this to have been a published illustration likley for a paperback book cover, though we have yet to uncover its exact usage. Zenobia was a warrior queen of the […]
Artist: Henry Abraham
Price: $1,500.00
A glamorous encounter from illustrator Edwin Georgi Offered here is a lovely and glamorous gouache on illustration board painting by American artist and illustrator Edwin Georgi. A dramatic piece created in cool tones, it shows a young glamorously dressed woman in a sequined spaghetti strap dress gripping the knob of a door as an older […]
Artist: Edwin Georgi
Price: $4,950.00 $4,250.00
Flowers of the Field by Haskell Coffin This is a lovely, published calendar girl pastel illustration by the prolific American artist and illustrator Haskel Coffin. This shows a demure, doe-eyed, delicate brunette beauty with a posey of freshly picked daisies. The illustration was published by The Osborne Calendar Company with the title, “Flowers of the […]
Artist: Haskell Coffin
Price: $3,500.00
The Underwood American Girl Calendar – The Girl of the East This large Clarence Underwood gouache painting appeared as the first page in the 1909 Underwood American Girl Calendar with the title The Girl Of The East. The calendar was published by The Frederick A. Stokes Company. The image features a handsome young dapper gent […]
Artist: Clarence F. Underwood
Price: $3,500.00
Parisian Victorian Maiden by Hamilton King This is a fabulous, turn of-the-last-century, large pastel on tinted artist’s paper by the prolific American illustrator Hamilton King. In this portrait a Parisian Victorian beauty in a large plumed hat stylishly traverses through a windy Paris winter day. The pastel is nicely matted and framed under glass and […]
Artist: Hamilton King
Price: $3,500.00
J. Knowles Hare original advertising pastel for Sunshine Biscuits This large and enchanting pastel was created by the American illustrator J. Knowles Hare as advertising calendar art for Sunshine Biscuits. This New York bakery marketed calendar girl calendars in the early 1900s under the name “The Sunshine Girl”. This example was titled “Autumn”, an original […]
Artist: J. Knowles Hare
Price: $3,500.00
Charming Family Illustration by Samuel Frantz This is a wholesome interior scene done en grisaille in oil on canvas by Russian artist and illustrator Samuel Frantz. A young family is gathered in celebration as the young men of the family present a youthful flapper beauty with gifts of candy and a wax sealer set. We […]
Artist: Samuel Marshall Frantz
Price: $1,850.00
Love’s Young Dream by Carle J. Blenner This is a soft, moody, and evocative pastel by the well-listed and prolific illustrator Carle J. Blenner. This features a lovely Edwardian maiden in a loose fitting pink dress with a plunging neckline that reveals a tantalizing view of her bust line. This pastel was published as a […]
Artist: Carle J. Blenner
Price: $3,375.00
Original Art by Gene Pressler This beautifully well-preserved pastel painting is by American artist and illustrator Gene Pressler. With a rich color palette and Pressler’s signature glow, this pastel features a rosy-cheeked blue eyed stylish Edwardian in attire lass. We assume this was created sometime in the 1910s as magazine cover art but thus far […]
Artist: Gene Pressler
Price: $6,500.00
Calendar art by Philip Boileau By the time Philip Boileau created this pastel on board calendar illustration, he was already one of the most popular “pretty girl” postcard artists working. This example, which was copyrighted under the title Lady In Blue features a blue-eyed Edwardian maiden looking over her shoulder daringly at the viewer, and is […]
Artist: Philip Boileau
Price: $3,500.00
