Sorry, It's Sold

Welcome to Grapefruit Moon Gallery. Here you will find an archived visual history of past sales. Pretty to look at, some are quite old; but when they're in here, consider them sold!

An exceedingly scarce original oil on canvas by noted Illinois early calendar artist F.R. Harper. Harper had a long and successful career in American Illustration. He was particularily adept at portraying exotic-themed Anglo Saxon-ized Indian Maidens and his rare paintings of beautiful women are some of the most poignant in terms of mood and technique from the early art nouveau influenced pre art deco years of glamour art. This is nicely framed and has been oversprayed with some type of varnish or shellac at some point and is priced accordingly.

Early Calendar Maiden at a Stream

Artist: F. R. Harper

Rare surviving original illustration art for Rogue for Men Magazine. A lurid genre defining cover by Lloyd Rognan for an April 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, ImaginativeTales, and other sci fi pulp magazines exploiting the “pre-Apollo” moon mission space travel craze. This is a particularily rich interpretation of a Men’s magazine cover, and finally someone had the nerve to portray things as seen here.

Man the Beast

Artist: Lloyd Rognan

We have a collection of three Gag Cartoons done by the well listed illustrator Bob Pettes for reproduction as calendar art by Brown & Bigelow. These feature hapless “Scotch swilling ” hacks — ala Caddyshack and Rodney Dangerfield — but decades earlier in this depiction. Ready to frame with expensive round cut matts. Pettes is best known as an illustrator for puzzle reproduction.

Collection of Golf-themed Gag Cartoons

Artist: Robert Pettes

An original World War II era pin-up illustration featuring a Marlene Dietrich – esque lovelorn pin-up admiring her 2 enlisted men presumably stationed in Europe ” over there ” as it were… Classic bad girl campy imagery which was used as art for a Mennon gift box for Men lithographed box for the set which is included in the sale. Signed Bischoff on the box (only, not on gouache artwork itself). This is by Herman E. Bischoff an illustrator that worked for Esquire Magazine and created covers for Liberty magazine during the 1940s – 50s.

Lovelorn Beauty Admires 2 WWII Soldiers

Artist: Herman Bischoff

This is the second of a pair of institution-sized monumental hand-tinted highlighted fine art prints that were displayed in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum of Art after the turn of the last century. They found their way to a convent in the Midwest and recently went up for sale. We are proud to offer this most unusual Edwin Austin Abbey, King Lear, A Farewell To Cordelia .

King Lear

Artist: Edwin Austin Abbey

An original Brown & Bigelow published illustration for calendar use by their art director Clair V. Fry. Fry studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, the Chicago Art Institute and the Minneapolis Art Institute. He was Art Director of Brown and Bigelow for 35 years, working with Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish and N. C. Wyeth. He taught at St. Paul School of Arts and Sciences and has frequently conducted painting workshops. He retired with his wife to Sun City, Arizona and was a member of the Arizona Watercolor Association.

Hatted Glamour Girl With Demitasse

Artist: Clair Fry

An exceptional and defining example of William Malherbe’s post impressionistic landscapes and portaiture — a circa 1920’s oil on stretched canvas. Malherbe is a well-listed and coveted artist with outstanding auction hammer prices. To these eyes, an inferior village view with no figures sold for a record $4,180.00 in 1988. Original label on verso, as seen, boldly signed lower left. This oil painting is an evocative and stirring example of his mastery of the post impressionistic landscape.

“La Seine aux Andelys”

Artist: William Malherbe

A rare and detailed original gouache illustration of a frenetic hockey scene for either a sports pulp cover or an interior 2 page spread for a slick mainstream publication. Art is signed William Reusswig and dated on verso as seen. A recent sale at the Illustration House in New York City at auction brought $18,000+ for a pulp cover by this well listed artist.

Hockey

Artist: William Reusswig

An original commissioned oil on canvas for Brown and Bigelow for use as a reproduced calendar pin-up illustration by Paul Cernia. A fun western-themed cowgirl image in the Gil Elvgren manner of campy, sexy, shapely, pin-up frivolity. Nicely framed and in excellent untouched original condition.

Brown & Bigelow Pin Up Cowgirl Painting

Artist: Paul Cernia

A rare surviving fresh estate find, an original pastel cover done for The American Weekly from a series titled, Visions Of An Artist, circa 1937. This particular series seems to artistically “feminize” natural disasters. Aptly titled “Menace”. Beautifully matted and framed in an expensive gallery frame as seen. This was renamed by the magazine and appeared as a cover under the title “Angry Nature” on Feb 28, 1937. This was unearthed in California recently and was in the estate of Patricia Lake, the rumored illigitimate daughter of Hearst and his long time mistress and confident, Marion Davies.

Angry Nature

Artist: Henry Clive

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