An impish winged cupid is the subject of this Edwardian Americana illustration by famed and prolific artist Orson Lowell. It appeared as the September 25, 1913 cover of Life Magazine’s Heart To Heart Number.
Artist: Orson Lowell
Illustration & Advertising Art
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.
A 1942 original pastel on board by Cardwell Higgins created for an advertising display sign for “Adola Brassieres”. Higgins executed a series of these images all with erotically charged pin-up girl style and often times set in Hawaii as in this example. This is the only known surviving pastel from this campaign, the text on the die-cut display created from the artwork read “The Secret To a Lovely Figure”.
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
In this fun and detailed published pen & ink illustration, an arch of beautiful Brinkley girls hover over a young man who sludges through the trials of life: childhood, school, higher education, and finally employment in an endeavor to find success in the form of riches and finally, a beautiful Brinkley girl to call his […]
Artist: Nell Brinkley
In this fun and detailed published pen & ink illustration, an ethereal Brinkley beauty finds herself enchanted by the musical renderings of her guitar-playing suitor during a moonlit, rooftop rendezvous that encompasses the youthful, carefree romance of the Jazz Age. Nell Brinkley, the “Queen of Comics” and successful American illustrator and comic artist, was known […]
Artist: Nell Brinkley
A large fashion original illustration by Charles Gates Sheldon which served as an interior fashion plate for the September 1921 issue of The Woman’s Home Companion. This lovely model is adorned in the latest and stylish current evening wear a gown by Henri Bendel the title is “Very Wearable – Don’t You Think?”. This large pen & ink and wash is executed in a fine en grisaille style for interior black and white print reproduction. A stylish example by this illustrator who of course also worked as a cover artist for Photoplay magazine and the other early Hollywood Silent Movie era titles.
Artist: Charles Sheldon
A pen and ink drawing by noted female artist and illustrator Nell Brinkley. For sale at Grapefruit Moon Gallery.
Artist: Nell Brinkley
An early 1900’s original illustration by Orson Lowell depicting a group of young boys taking in a baseball game knot-hole style. Major League Baseball of course still uses the term when larger ticket buys of youth groups are involved. I had never made a connection with the visual here, that the term stemmed from young boys peering through knot holes in the lumber used to build the outfield fences. A nostalgic Americana, baseball themed work by the gifted and prolific important golden age illustrator. Nicely matted and framed and ready to enjoy.
Artist: Orson Lowell
Another fine original artwork from the storied Cream of Wheat advertising archives. An original watercolor on illustration board by B. Cory Kilvert titled Lest We Forget. This large and decidedly quaint image borrows from The American Arts & Crafts aesthetic which was firmly rooted into American culture in 1907, when this image first saw light as a full page magazine ad in hundreds of popular publications such as The Saturday Evening Post. Responding to fussy, over ornamented Victorian tastes, the Arts & Crafts movement artists evoked scenes of Dutch mills and serene pastoral views presented in contrast to modern industrialization. This unique and delightful hearth and home image from this iconic advertising campaign is surely one of the most enduring images from this long running series.
Artist: B. Cory Kilvert
A bright, crisp, art deco oil on canvas, featuring a stylish flapper mother in cloche hat and her children marveling at Rastus, the iconic Cream of Wheat chef, who is winking at modernism by pointing to the picture within the picture. A very rare surviving work which is attributed to Enoch Bolles, who worked for many years creating similar streetcar advertisements for Vicks Vaporub, Squibb’s Dental Cream and Uneeda Biscuits.
Artist: Enoch Bolles (attributed)
Jon Whitcomb was perhaps the most accomplished “glossy” magazine illustrator working in the mid-century modern style. This fabulous glamour and Western Americana mash-up interior gouache illustration painting for the January, 1951 edition of Cosmopolitan magazine showcases the skillful eye, technical excellence and delightful imaginative sense of narration that set him atop of the field. Commissioned for a story by Shirley Shapiro Pugh titled […]
Artist: Jon Whitcomb
