Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
At the turn of the 20th century, publishers and calendar companies leveraged Industrial Revolution inventions to produce multi-color offset lithographs that were fast, affordable, and flat-out glorious to view. Illustrations were used as covers, interior vignette story board paintings and in long-running iconic advertising campaigns such as “Cream of Wheat,” which premiered a new illustration each month in The Saturday Evening Post.
American painter and illustrator Bart Forbes (b. 1939) was specially commissioned to create a series of interior illustrations for The Franklin Library's 1977 publication of the novel House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday.
The novel is widely credited as leading the way for the breakthrough of Native American literature into the mainstream. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969 and has also been noted for its significance in Native American anthropology.
Artist: Bart Forbes
Price: $750.00
This minimalist yet evocative watercolor painting shows three men standing together against a blue sky while a horse grazes in the foreground. This illustration appears as a full-page bookplate on page 132 of Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington. From its founding in 1973 until its closing in 2000 The Franklin Library produced public domain […]
Artist: Bart Forbes
Price: $850.00
An exciting Art Deco / Great Depression-era pen and ink illustration by the social satirist Anne Harriet Fish, this was published in an issue of the British humor magazine "The Tatler." Fish, who periodically worked under her married name Anne Sefton Fish, is best known for her character "Eve," a coquettish flapper girl, whose exploits […]
Artist: Anne Harriet Fish
Price: $950.00
An exciting Art Deco / Great Depression-era pen and ink illustration by the social satirist Anne Harriet Fish, this was published in an issue of the British humor magazine "The Tatler." Fish, who periodically worked under her married name Anne Sefton Fish, is best known for her character "Eve," a coquettish flapper girl, whose exploits […]
Artist: Anne Harriet Fish
Price: $950.00
This large World War II-era illustration is a sprawling depiction of life in Japan for American soldiers. Created with gouache and watercolor by artist and illustrator Stevan Dohanos, this image was published in the July 3, 1943 issue of The Saturday Evening Post to illustrate the short story "A Lot To Learn" by Hal G. […]
Artist: Stevan Dohanos
Price: $4,500.00
This colorful and romantic gouache on illustration board is by the mid-century artist and illustrator Robert Patterson. It was created as an interior illustration for the May 1948 issue of McCall's magazine. It accompanies a short story written by Frances Malm titled "Rain Beginning." The images shows a glamorous raven-haired beauty posed forehead-to-forehead with a […]
Artist: Robert Patterson
Price: $1,150.00
This mixed media watercolor, pen & ink on artist's paper shows a woman relaxing on a couch with a book in hand. Her reading has been interrupted by an individual who leans over close into her body, gesticulating wildly with his hands. This illustration appears as a full page bookplate on page 159 of Good […]
Artist: Steven Stroud
Price: $750.00
This pen & ink on artist's paper shows a man in a t-shirt and running shorts jogging around an indoor second-level running track. He appears strained and breathless - clearly not enjoying the exertion. This illustration appears as a full page bookplate on page 67 of Good as Gold by Joseph Heller. It depicts a […]
Artist: Steven Stroud
Price: $750.00
This pen & ink on artist's paper is broken into two segments (as were all of the illustrations created for this publication) and were printed across two pages with the empty space in between being used to identify a new date/part in the story, as seen in the example below. The purple ink, splattered intentionally […]
Artist: Steven Stroud
Price: $650.00
This pen & ink on artist's paper depicts a man in a suit running down a waterfront street. He appears hurried and panicked. A young girl is seen despondently standing in the background. The illustration is broken into two segments (as were all of the illustrations created for this publication) and was printed across two […]
Artist: Steven Stroud
Price: $650.00
This vintage illustration features a disheveled Jimmy Stewart type in rumpled raincoat and hat, being side-eyed with disdain. The other fellow appears to be wearing last night's tuxedo, if the stack of pancakes is any indication. Since we have yet identified the use or artist of this piece, we can't do more than speculate on […]
Artist: American Artist
Price: $950.00
From its founding in 1973 until its closing in 2000 The Franklin Library produced public domain classic books, releasing series such as The Franklin Library of Mystery Masterpieces. Often released in parallel series including leather bound and a non-leather bound (leatherette), the books were handsomely bound and included illustrations from contemporary illustrators. American artist, illustrator, and […]
Artist: Herbert Tauss
Price: $850.00
