Paperback & Pulp Art

Publishers of depression-era pulp magazines, post war men’s adventure and girlie magazines, and lurid paperback titles all used risqué, action-packed illustrations to make their offerings jump off the newsstands in the highly competitive market for readers attention. Cover art pushed the boundaries of what was allowable in a heavily-censored era, coming up with increasingly deviant and outlandish portrayals of sex, violence, and perilous escapes from danger. Today, these works—which provide an intriguing peek into the shadow side of 20th century American culture—are studied by historians and coveted by collectors.

A rare surviving original cover illustration for Rogue For Men magazine by Lloyd Rognan for the premiere edition, a December 1955 Volume #1, Edition #1. This is a particularily rich interpretation of a Men’s magazine cover , and illustrates the interior story on page 9 of included published issue of Rogue For Men magazine, story is titled Gentlemen for Rent by Ted Peckham . Rogue was published from December 1955 – December 1967 by Greenleaf publishing and was a direct competitor with Playboy Magazine.

Gentlemen For Rent

Artist: Lloyd Rognan

A lurid and gruesome large en grisaille style original oil on illustration board by noted 20th century artist and Illustrator Basil Gogos. An interior or perhaps cover illustration for a 1960s post-war pulp mens magazine published by Balcourt. This copy selling gruesome frontier style work pushes the envelope showing whisky bottle anesthetic self amputation by lantern light. Basil Gogos is currently featured in a long and detailed retrospective in Illustration Magazine. Nicely matted and framed and ready to hang.

Frontiersman Styled Surgery

Artist: Basil Gogos

A defining and flat out extrordinary original illustration painting for a as of yet undetermined science fiction pulp magazine cover By Lloyd Rognan (1923-2005). An Original oil on Norlin illustration board depicting space travelers among the ruins of a railroad union station from the 1950’s. Present in the image are advertising icons such as Kodak and the B & O Railroad. The artist recently passed away and many works were recently auctioned off directly from his estate. This to my eyes was the defining work by this highly regarded and frequently published illustrator.

Spicy Pulp Pin Up Girl Space & Time Traveler

Artist: Lloyd Rognan

A signed and dated ’40 by B.W. Rockey cover for Lariat Story a western themed long running pulp publication. Rockey is an illustration artist who did several classic pulp covers of Western, Gangster and Detective themes. Works from his estate surfaced in Kansas City in 1996. The Medium is oil on canvas mounted on board with printer’s notations on the reverse. Work is beautifully framed and in excellent condition.

Lariat Stories Western Pulp Cover

Artist: B. W. Rockey

A rare surviving original cover illustration for Rogue For Me Magazine by Lloyd Rognan for an July 1956 edition. Rognan had a long and prolific career as an illustrator , he studied with an early WPA art student project, contributed regularily for Stars and Stripes. Later his science fiction pulp artwork appeared as covers for such publications as Fate, Imagination and ImaginativeTales, and other sci-fi pulp magazines exploiting the “pre Apollo” moon mission space travel craze. In the 60’s, Rognan was also a regular staff artist for Brown & Bigelow and created a hillbilly humor line called Corn Squeezins.

That Wicked Cancan

Artist: Lloyd Rognan

A genre defining original illustration painting for the October 1956 edition of Imagination Science Fiction for the interior story by Edmond Hamilton titled Citadel Of The Star Lords. By Lloyd Rognan (1923-2005) an Original oil on illustration board depicting ufo’s , rayguns, mayhem and all things lurid sci-fi, set amongst the ruins of a town center square anytown USA circa 1950’s. The artist recently passed away and many works were recently auctioned off directly from his estate. This to my eyes was one of the defining work by this highly regarded and frequently published illustrator.

Citadel Of The Star Lords

Artist: Lloyd Rognan

Original cover art from a story by Private Robert Ross Carney from the pages of the July 1972 Adventure for Men. Story is titled The Battle The Big Brass Bungled. Artwork is a gouache on illustration board and nicely matted and framed. A genre defining noir World War II daring rescue depiction with the required damsel in distress and the menacing SS officers getting foiled by sheer tenacity and by the element of suprise. ( Not unlike a vintage Hogan’s Heroes T.V. episode…) By the well listed illustrator and pulp cover artist George Gross.

Battle The Big Brass Bungled

Artist: George Gross

An original illustration for the famed American Weekly The Saturday Evening Post ( page 32 April 8, 1961 issue) . A noir pulp-like rendering for the story by William Forrest, titled “DYNAMITE – That was his name. And no trucker ever dared to cross him — until now…” Robert McCall, 81, came to public attention in the early 1960s as the illustrator for LIFE magazine’s memorable series on the future of space travel. McCall’s heroic artwork is on permanent exhibit at many prestigious institutions including the National Gallery of Art, and he has done murals for the National Air & Space Museum, the Pentagon, EPCOT, and Johnson Space Center. His work for movies includes the landmark

His work for movies includes the landmark 2001:A Space Odyssey, The Black Hole, Tora! Tora! Tora!, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Bob’s work has been featured in virtually every popular magazine in the past thirty years.

Dynamite

Artist: Robert McCall

A rare surviving Detective Pulp cover illustration of a hard boiled New York City policeman with a drawn gun. A defining cover for the May 1932 issue of Real Detective , illustrating the interior story “Pay or Die! The Menace of the Kidnapping Terrorists”. Artwork by Alec Redmond signed lower right. Oil on stretched canvas retains original gesso painted wood frame. Call or e-mail for a complete condition report.

Pay or Die!

Artist: Alec Redmond

Rare, original cover-art for a 1950 Line-Up Detective Cases pulp magazine, illustrating the interior story: I am a $100 a Night Call Girl! This is a genre defining example of 1950’s pulp bad girl cover-art and like much pulp art, it is unsigned but came directly from the Dodd estate.

Line-Up Detective Cases “Red Head Call Girl”

Artist: Howell Dodd

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