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!

Grapefruit Moon Gallery just unearthed a small collection of original Campbell’s Soup Kids illustrations. These appeared as print ads in countless American mainstream publications such as The Saturday Evening Post in the 1930s. In this offering a Dolly Dingle-type Campbell’s Soup Kid puts her doll to bed. Accompanying text reads; “Not a drop of Campbell’s left upon her spoon, So the good old sand man’s Coming mighty soon!” Nicely matted and framed behind glass with typewritten caption window.

Sand Man’s Coming Soon

Artist: School of Grace Drayton

Harry Barton painted this steamy gouache illustration for use as the cover of 1952’s Tender Hearted Harlot by Val Munroe. Published as a pulp digest, novella length story that takes place on the San Francisco waterfront and follows the proclivities of the young, bold and beautiful Ginny Parrish who… “is a gambler to the core – but the one thing she won’t bet on is love…” Sounds like a real page turner! The painting is in pristine condition and has been nicely matted and framed under glass, a copy of the published digest is included in the sale.

Tender Hearted Harlot

Artist: Harry Barton

One of the more surreal takes on the 1929 stock market crash which led to the Great Depression is on view in this October 1930 Campbell’s Soup advertisement which appeared in The Saturday Evening Post. A Campbell’s Soup Kid reads the latest stock news from a state of the art glass domed stock ticker machine. Wishful text reads “The news that I’m reading look’s dandy to me. Like a plateful of Campbell’s Which fills me with glee.” This original illustration painting is a supremely odd example of Americana advertising.

Dandy To Me

Artist: School of Grace Drayton

This original gouache cover painting by Mort Kustler appeared on the June 1959 cover of Male magazine, illustrating an interior story titled “Madame Penal”. The cover slug text says it all: “Dramatic saga of the young woman who ruled the Middle East’s Cafard Compound, and of the handful of Americans and 1500 starved and broken wretches forced […]

Madame Penal

Artist: Mort Kunstler

An original Calendar published luminous oil on canvas by noted and prolific pin-up illustrator Art Frahm used in 1956 by “The Goes Litho. Company” of Chicago Illinois. This large and pristine pin-up painting displays to fine effect Art Frahm’s softer and less rough around the edges sensibilities and provides a good-girl art glamour counterpart to his infamous series of “panties dropped” pin-up paintings that have recently sold from the Charles Martignette estate and found buyers at between $20,000 – $25,000.00 per work at auction.

Roses From You

Artist: Art Frahm

A stiring and patriotic moving World War I era original illustration by noted American illustrator C. Clyde Squires (1883-1970) who was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1883. His work was published in Western Romances, LIFE, and Womans Home Companion. Signed lower right “C. Clyde Squires.” Measures 17 x 24 inches unframed, framed 18 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches. Painted on artist’s board, very good condition, framed behind glass.

Meeting The Kind Nurse

Artist: C. Clyde Squires

A stylish and decidedly art deco cover illustration for the September 9th, 1939 issue of Liberty magazine, painted by the prolific illustrator Victor Tchetchet. Depicting a Carole Lombard-esque blonde bombshell in a Diana the Huntress mythological pose. Dedicated and inscribed to the fabled Hollywood film producer Otto Preminger, as seen lower right. Painting has been handsomely […]

Diana The Huntress

Artist: Victor Tchetchet

Dating to the 1950s, this Mid-Century Modern original advertising illustration features a young, stylish, and well-to-do couple looking at travel posters and pondering their next destination. The African masks and tribal Zuni Fetish Doll on the mantle as well as the hanging modernist abstract art let the consumer know that this couple is sophisticated and well-traveled. A […]

Where To?

Artist: Richard Preyer

This is a large preliminary charcoal drawing by Gil Elvgren that was an alternative suggestion for a mid-1950s speciality advertising calendar for Brown & Bigelow’s exclusive “Miss Sylvania” line for Sylvania electric. The Miss Sylvania account adapted The Great American Pin-up to middle America’s buttoned up sensibilities. Each year one of the calendar company’s star […]

Miss Sylvania-Preliminary Drawing

Artist: Gil Elvgren

An explosive World War II battle scene rages in this published Bruce Minney illustration. A Nazi submarine has crashed ashore and brought the fight to land in this lurid piece that is a quintessential example of the style coming out of men’s magazines of this period. With three U.S. Navy soldiers wounded and down for the […]

Man’s World Nazi Battle Scene

Artist: Bruce Minney

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