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.

[wp_paypal button=”buynow” name=”Portrait of Jean Harlow by Charles Sheldon” amount=”3500.00″ no_shipping=”2″ quantity=”1″ return=”https://grapefruitmoongallery.com/thank-you-for-your-order” cancel_return=”https://grapefruitmoongallery.com/your-order-was-not-processed” button_image=”https://grapefruitmoongallery.com/wp-content/buy-now.png” target=”blank”] Jean Harlow by Charles Sheldon This 1930s-era original pastel on board by Charles Sheldon was one of the many movie magazine covers he created featuring Golden Age Hollywood icons. The pastels he created for Photoplay from 1925 to 1930 […]

Portrait of Jean Harlow

Artist: Charles Sheldon

Two for Five – A Gouache Illustration by Michael Silver Up for sale is a wholesome and nostalgic gouache painting by American artist and illustrator Michael Silver. A classic mid-century, glossy magazine illustration, this winsome artwork features a handsome hardware store clerk with a chiseled jaw, blonde hair, and bright white teeth who is overjoyed […]

Two for Five

Artist: Michael Silver

Mystery and Style, the Work of Daniel Content Offered here is a vintage and original gouache on board illustration created by artist and illustrator Daniel Content. Dating to the 1940s, this comes from later in Content’s career as a creator of published works. He would, in the 1950s, transition from artist to art director. Filled […]

Veiled Mystery Woman

Artist: Daniel Content

Original watercolor illustration published as the frontispiece for N. Scott Momaday’s novel “The House Made of Dawn” (1977, The Franklin Library).

Frontispiece from House Made of Dawn

Artist: Bart Forbes

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.

House Made of Dawn

Artist: Bart Forbes

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 […]

Up from Slavery

Artist: Bart Forbes

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 […]

The Window

Artist: Anne Harriet Fish

[wp_paypal button=”buynow” name=”The Depression by Anne Harriet Fish” amount=”950.00″ no_shipping=”2″ quantity=”1″ return=”https://grapefruitmoongallery.com/thank-you-for-your-order” cancel_return=”https://grapefruitmoongallery.com/your-order-was-not-processed” button_image=”https://grapefruitmoongallery.com/wp-content/buy-now.png” target=”blank”] 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 […]

The Depression

Artist: Anne Harriet Fish

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. […]

A Lot To Learn

Artist: Stevan Dohanos

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 […]

Rain Beginning

Artist: Robert Patterson

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