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!

A large and early commissioned pin-up painting by Gil Elvgren for the Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company titled “Finders Keepers.” This 1945 oil on canvas was painted in a larger format than Elvgren standardly used, and this is by all accounts a desirable and classic example of the Great American Pin Up by the undisputed master, featuring bold bright colors, and a wholesome yet sexy appeal. The canvas is relined and this painting was previously sold by The American Illustrators Gallery in New York.

Finders Keepers

Artist: Gil Elvgren

A noir styled and cleverly depicted Edwin Georgi Saturday Evening Post interior illustration for the serial story The Disappearance of Daphne by Nancy Rutledge. The work is nicely framed in a period wide profile frame and retains the Curtis Publishing verso label with print date and title.

Disappearance of Daphne

Artist: Edwin Georgi

An original 1946 commissioned oil on canvas by the female American Illustrator and occasional pin-up artist E.B. Segner. Created for the Louis F. Dow Calendar Company, (the Saint Paul Minnesota rival and competitor of Brown & Bigelow) whose roster of artists included Billy Devorss, Gil Elvgren, Henry Clive and Jules Erbit. Work is nicely framed in a newer gallery frame on original pine stretchers with notations from the Calendar Company.

On a Clear Day…

Artist: E. B. Segner

A large and fabulous original illustration painting by Eric Pape used in “The Fair God” by Lew Wallace as a bookplate (page 462, with the caption “She gave him the signal”).

Pape is best remembered as a prolific illustrator of children’s books and historical fantasies, as well as an artistic contributor to Scribner’s, Cosmopolitan, and Century Magazine. After opening his own illustration school in 1898, he taught N.C. Wyeth, whose style is influenced by Pape’s own.

She Gave Him The Signal

Artist: Eric Pape

This Everett Shinn pencil & gouache artwork offers a humorous take on class relations, and seemingly, the effects of intoxication. A well-heeled gentleman is shown face down in the grass as an unflappable butler bends down to assess the situation. Shinn was renowned for his ability to capture the minute distinctions of society and debauchery, and this artwork displays his fluid and lively style.

Yes, Sir

Artist: Everett Shinn

A deftly rendered cover painting for The American Magazine by Herbert Paus, who developed an inventive and entirely modernist, machine age, industrial aesthetic. A striking seaside beauty is depicted playing a concertina in this rare surviving original cover painting from the golden age of American illustration. Herbert Paus was a leading illustrator who contributed covers for Life, Collier’s, Leslie’s and the Woman’s Home Companion magazines.

Seaside with a Concertina

Artist: Herbert Paus

This jazz age artwork from the late fall of 1924 smartly blends Halloween season & boxing as a metaphor for the presidential election of that November. In this vibrant gouache, used as a cover for “The Brooklyn Eagle Sunday Magazine,” an Uncle Sam-inspired ring girl attempts to keep the peace between the two parties. This is a spirited roaring 20s time capsule.

A Political Halloween Party

Artist: Charles Verschuuren

In Willy Pogany’s dazzling oil on board artwork, an Art Nouveau maiden finds herself in the summer foliage conversing with a little bird. This whimsical scene was created for and used as the front cover of Metropolitan Magazine, July 1916. This artwork marks the best period in Pogany’s prolific and well remembered long and successful career. A stylized belle-epoque, tightly rendered work that features a vibrant color palette and intricate use of the free-flowing forms that came to define the Art Nouveau aesthetic.

The Queen of Summer

Artist: Willy Pogany

A dazzling and erotic oil on canvas by Earl Moran of the platinum bombshell Marilyn Monroe in the nude. Dated 1960 on verso stretcher bar, and marked “Aaron Brothers #646″on back of canvas. During the 1940’s a radiant Norma Jean was Earl Moran’s favorite pin-up model and a number of Brown & Bigelow Calendar works were commissioned featuring the then unknown red headed pin-up model. Earl Moran left the hectic schedule and deadlines of a calendar illustrator in the late 1950’s and moved to California and started working exclusively in oils and created a series of boudoir posed erotically charged nude works that sold to patrons of the arts through an arrangement with The Aaron Brothers Galleries.

Marilyn Monroe in the Nude

Artist: Earl Moran

A large and expertly rendered pastel on illustration board by Hungarian artist Pal Fried. Fried, who commonly worked in oils, was equally adept with pastels and this is a fine offering revisiting one of his favorite themes; a young ballerina in anticipation of her performance. Work is nicely matted and framed and in an excellent state of preservation.

Preparing For The Ballet

Artist: Pal Fried

« Previous Page