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!
Dating to 1950, this dazzling colorful original paperback cover was painted by George Gross for Quarter Books #57, The Virgin And The Barfly. Illustrating a scene from the novel by Gerald Foster (one of many likely pseudonyms of the prolific Peggy Gladdis), this is a splashy, trashy, and altogether irresistible example of sleaze paperback […]
Artist: George Gross
Seen gamely climbing into a larger than life pipe threader in ballet slippers and skimpy pink apron, this redheaded Petty girl is an unlikely yet alluring gearhead. A published mixed media pin-up illustration by George Petty which appeared as a calendar for Ridgid Tools in September of 1952, as part of his […]
Artist: George Petty
From a recent east coast estate auction, Grapefruit Moon Gallery is delighted to have acquired a previously unseen collection of American Expressionist oil paintings dating to the 1940s and executed in a WPA, Regionalist, and often times stark Ashcan School design aesthetic. These are the work of the important American photo-journalist Alfred Statler, […]
Artist: Alfred Statler
A whimsical and satirical yet deftly rendered original self portrait watercolor painting dated 1948 by the legendary American illustrator and New York City resident James Montgomery Flagg. The artist paints himself tiptoeing along the roofline of a posh Park Avenue neighborhood in the guise of a snarky Psychiatrist with a Central Park night […]
Artist: James Montgomery Flagg
An inventive stark modernist pin up mixed medium work by the Washington D.C. commercial artist and illustrator Russell Hill. The artist worked in gouache and airbrush to create sleek and unique images of the feminine form that found him much in demand in the advertising world of the 1940s. We have seen other examples […]
Artist: Russell Hill
A kinetic, pop culture, post-war pulp painting by Mort Kunstler painted in 1964 and published as a cover in March of 1967 “For Men Only”. A fear mongering and chaotic depiction loosely illustrating the story “Belly Dancer Raid to Spring Russia’s Top Rocket Man.” Painting is very nicely framed and ready to hang.
Artist: Mort Künstler
Randolph Hearst commissioned this fine original oil on illustration board from Henry Clive for the cover of the American Weekly Magazine as part of Clive’s Pin Up Girls of History series, which reinvisioned contemporary starlet beauties as notorious vixens from throughout the past. In this example, the lovely 20th Century Fox film star Gene Tierney C. […]
Artist: Henry Clive
A bustling signed and dated 1925 original advertising gouache painting by noted Golden Age illustrator Henry Patrick Raleigh for Maxwell House Coffee. An opulent high society Great Gatbsy-esque scene which creates focal points around the coffee cups and serving platters in the hands of tony patrons and servers. Raleigh worked on Maxwell House’s print campaign […]
Artist: Henry Raleigh
This unusual example of a science fiction themed menace pulp illustration by the talented artist Lawrence Sterne Stevens was created as cover art for the July 1948 issue of Fantastic Novels. Renowned for his grotesque imaginative horror art, and often compared to contemporary Virgil Finlay, Stevens was named after his father–a deeply religious preacher–and signed […]
Artist: Lawrence Sterne Stevens
Patten Wilson, the British Art Nouveau illustrator and fine artist created this immaculately detailed and haunting watercolor on paper for use as frieze panel decoration for a high end wallpaper company. At the turn of the 20th century, lavishly decorated Victorian homes would feature rooms filled with fine art wall-coverings that recalled the symbolist mural […]
Artist: Patten Wilson
