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.
A kinetic and surrealist hypnotic work showing an African Fertility Dance that likely was a proposed cover for The American Weekly magazine, for which the artist was active in the 1940s. Inscribed Property of Andre Durenceau lower right; a jarring work by one of our favorite avant-garde art deco era illustrators. Nicely matted and framed behind glass in a period frame.
Artist: Andre Durenceau
An odd interior illustration by the prolific American illustrator Fredric Varady, this large scale painting accompanied a story titled “The Payoff” on page 45 of the April 1950 issue of an as-of-yet unidentified mainstream American magazine. This classic depiction of post-WWII co-eds takes the buttoned up wholesome style of Cold War Americana to an almost surreal extreme. The scene shows emotions […]
Artist: Fredric Varady
A deftly rendered precise original gouache painting from 1937 used for a poster designed for a South Kensington, England Science Museum show. Signed Eileen McKinney on the verso and dated April 3, 1937. The work is entrenched with imagery inspired by the ongoing industrial revolution which was occurring throughout much of the world and captures the public’s fascination with the machine, science and industry as they were to intersect in what has become known as “The Machine Age”. The artist uses elements of Russian Constructivist poster design which emphasizes the particular material properties of an object added with it’s three dimensional spatial presence. This design aesthetic was very tied into Industry and Modernism and became harmonious with the graphics and imagery associated with The Machine Age.
Artist: Eileen McKinney
A moving and large Victorian era interior illustration presumably for the old LIFE magazine. An original grisaillle illustration by noted American illustrator C. Clyde Squires (1883-1970).
Artist: C. Clyde Squires
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. A staff artist for the Thos. D Murphy calendar co., his work also appeared on postcards, advertisements, and magazine covers. Bryson’s strong use of color, and stylized depictions of feminine glamour were heavily influential on art deco pastel artists like Rolf Armstrong, Earl Moran and Zoe Mozert.
Artist: J. Ross Bryson
On offer here is an important avant-garde painting, acquired from the descendants of Frederick Waugh, which is stylistically in keeping with his work for The Clan Of Munes and appears to date to the same moment in the artist’s career. Using the same experimental techniques and playing with modernist abstraction, this eerie painting also hearkens back to Germanic fairy tales.
Artist: Frederick Judd Waugh
An exceedingly scarce and early Art Nouveau period original pastel portrait by Rolf Armstrong dated 1913. A crisply rendered serene take on a sad eyed solemn brown eyed lass. This pastel dates just one year later than his first published works of 1912 for Puck and Judge magazines. His signature had not yet become the stylized scripted font of which we are accustomed to seeing. I have yet to uncover the published version of this work, it was most likely commissioned as a sheet music cover or perhaps a cover for American Sunday Magazine, one of several periodicals willing to take a chance on the young emerging talent.
Artist: Rolf Armstrong
Henry Hutt created this whimsical Victorian winter scene painting for publication in Century magazine. The image shows three demure maidens delighting in the gentle fall of snowflakes in an unexpected Christmas blizzard. The Chicago based illustrator was known at the turn of the 20th century for his trend-setting images “depicting the stylish, up-to-date female.” In 1908 Century compiled eighty of the artist’s most […]
Artist: Henry Hutt
Elbert McGran Jackson created this fabulous golden age of illustration oil on canvas painting for use as a cover for the December 13, 1924 edition of Collier’s magazine. The image features a “smart set” styled young flapper girl beauty preparing for her radio performance by applying some bright red lipstick if only to prove that she does not […]
Artist: Elbert McGran Jackson
A topical newspaper illustration (presumably for the Hearst Newspapers) confronting the dilemma of Eugenics. In the 1910’s-1920’s the United States was faced with the question of whether individuals should marry with a mind towards creating superior babies through genetic family planning. This cartoon finds this notion farfetched and we see love conquering science to the shock and delight of a couple now free to live as their hearts command. A very sophisticated topical take on a pre-eminent question of the early 20th century. This is a fantastically rendered en grisaille style pen and ink drawing with highlights. En grisaille was a popular style in the early 20th century for illustrations created for reprinting. In a stylish contemporary fine gilded wood frame.
Artist: Gustav Michelson
