Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
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!
The red-headed, zaftig, and delightfully charming calendar girl Hilda, in a yoga pose tests her balance in this original published pin-up painting by Duane Bryers, created for the Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Hilda first appeared in the 1950s, and for two decades the free-spirited exploits of the somewhat daffy but imminently […]
Artist: Duane Bryers
This small preliminary gouache painting on illustration board is by noted artist and illustrator Rafael Desoto. A red-lipped, blonde bad girl finds herself in the grip of a haunting, demon-like man who appears out of the flames behind her. In the 1950s DeSoto created many paperback book covers for such publishers as Ace, Bantam, […]
Artist: Rafael DeSoto
This fresh to the market lively cover painting by Earle K. Bergey appeared as the cover of the winter 1948 issue of the Better Publications title Cartoon Humor. A breezy co-ed pin-up girl in a form fitting red sweater enjoys a snowy sled ride frolic, sending a good natured but clearly over the hill dandy into the powder. He […]
Artist: Earle K. Bergey
A defining and haunting American Impressionist oilon board by Henry James Soulen. This painting was created for use as an interior illustration in the February 15, 1919 issue of the Saturday Evening Post(included in sale). Known for his Orientalist exotic aesthetic, Soulen was an early student of Howard Pyle. With Soulen’s signature heavy expressive brush strokes and impasto technique, this work was exhibited in 1983 at the Delaware Art Museum.
Artist: Henry Soulen
A large format, detailed preliminary calendar illustration by William Medcalf for a calendar commission that was titled Lesson Learned for The Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company. These humorous “Music Lesson” themed images resonated with the 1950s American public. In this stellar example, two dazed kids are left scratching their foreheads after a […]
Artist: William Medcalf
This stirring post-World War I original oil painting by an American illustrator was created to promote the annual Red Cross Roll Call. Annually, the Red Cross would put out a year-end appeal urging Americans to support their work helping to “succor humanity” in times of crisis. An angelically depicted nurse is shown holding the banner of […]
Artist: American Artist
On offer is a remarkable published pulp cover painting by Lejaren Hiller (American, 1880-1969), titled Absinthe, for Flynn’s Weekly Detective Fiction Magazine – April 21, 1928. Between 1924 and 1939, the artist created hundreds of covers for this long running title, and this is among the most captivating. The image showcases an up-to-the-minute smoking flapper girl feeling strangely […]
Artist: Lejaren Hiller
A fresh to the market, good girl art painting by Howard Connelly, created as the June 1950 cover of the Thrilling Publications pulp title Thrilling Love. A pretty pin-up girl enjoys a soda fountain strawberry shake against a vibrant yellow fade away design aesthetic that is modernist and impactful. The 1940s and 50s saw the creation of […]
Artist: Howard Connelly
On offer is a spectacularly erotic French pre-pin up portrait of a Victorian redheaded maiden in very low cut gown by Henri Rondel. The artist was known for his sumptuous portraiture that juxtaposed the refined faces of French beauties with states of shocking undress. This example was acquired by the Osborne Art Company […]
Artist: Henri Rondel
This electric and inventive progress-through-industry themed gouache painting by Mahlon Blaine is signed and dated 1955. The image dramatizes the industrial era with a shirtless industrial worker forging steel in a machine-age apocalyptic scene that draws its light and intensity and sense of movement from the fire’s sparking glow emitted from within an ominous furnace.
Artist: Mahlon Blaine
