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!
A glamorous, art deco Petty Girl mixed media illustration from 1938 that appeared in the pages of Esquire Magazine with the quip “Thanks for the hospitality, Mr. Grover, but I don’t mind going home in the rain.“ In this sophisticated rendering, we see a sexy svelte blonde in a form fitting satin gown […]
Artist: George Petty
An iconic and rare surviving pin-up painting by Ben-Hur Baz which was published as a calendar with the title Maid In Muskegon. The image shows a strawberry blonde hot number seductively posed in a strapless bikini ala Marilyn Monroe. This artist did several pin-ups very closely based on the notorious Hollywood blonde bombshell, but it is unlikely that […]
Artist: Ben-Hur Baz
A deliriously fresh published Petty Girl mixed media pin-up illustration from 1937 that appeared in the pages of Esquire magazine with the quip “He doesn’t smoke and he doesn’t drink – I don’t know what I’ll do to amuse him”. A masterful rendering of a sexy modernist redhead who is clearly styled after Bette […]
Artist: George Petty
A sassy and sexy bathing beauty pin-up painting by William Medcalf, a first tier pin-up artist and long-time illustrator for the Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota. This preliminary work exhibits all of the illustrator’s abundant artistry and personality, and fully captures the allure of his finalized published calendar paintings.The painting is signed lower right […]
Artist: William Medcalf
This shoot ’em up action packed Western Americana illustration titled The Rider From Rio appeared as the April 22, 1933 cover of Street & Smith’s – Wild West Weekly. By the prolific and gifted American painter, John Coughlin, this exciting old west scene exemplifies the fighting cowboy spirit that was essential to the Western pulps. A fresh to […]
Artist: John Coughlin
An action packed, Western Americana cover painting by the American illustrator Charles Durant, this appeared as the cover of the May 8, 1926 edition of Western Story Magazine. The scene is set on the main street of a Wild West frontier town as a robber on horseback grabs a bag from a fellow outlaw, the town’s grizzled inhabitants looking on […]
Artist: Charles Durant
On offer is an action packed, large format cover painting by George H. Wert, commissioned by Street & Smith publishers for the April 27, 1929 edition of Western Story Magazine. A foiled bank robbery in the old west as the three tough as nails cowboys heed orders to “Come out with your hands up”. The artist employs a heavy […]
Artist: George H. Wert
A June bride gets unexpected company in this whimsical painting by Henry Clive, created as cover art for for the June 15, 1930 issue of The American Weekly, a syndicated supplement in William Randolph Hearst newspapers across the country. Part of the cover series “The Fashionable Working Girl” which showcased Great Depression-era flappers and gently satirized the social lives of independent city girls, this […]
Artist: Henry Clive
A whimsical roaring twenties stylized Art Deco pen & ink illustration by John Held, Jr. of unknown publication usage. A stylish flapper girl in a cloche hat enlists this year’s dandy as her personal social secretary. Handsomely matted and framed under glass.
Artist: John Held, Jr.
A captivating, sexy, toasting blonde pastel by noted illustrator and occasional pin-up artist Victor Tchetchet. This pin-up is unusual as it mimics the Coles Phillip’s “Fadeaway Girls” technique where the subject fades into the background. Tchetchet is best known for his pin-up, The Favorite Model, and countless movie magazine covers throughout the 1930’s. I have never come across the published version of this pastel, presumably it was done as a pin-up calendar illustration. Beautifully double matted in a $700 gallery frame.
Artist: Victor Tchetchet
