Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
A whimsical and stylized rare original gouache painting on illustration board by Anne Harriet Sefton a.k.a. Fish; this was the cover for The April 1919 edition of Vanity Fair Magazine published by Conde Nast. Work is in the humorous yet refined swinging youth style that came to personify the art deco Jazz Age. Painting is silk matted and beautifully framed in a period antique gold gilt wood frame under glass.
Artist: Anne Harriet Fish
A grotesque and unsavory gathering of creatures is assembled in this inventive signed work which is disguised as a children’s fairy tale – in this mixed medium drawing from the German expressionist artist Heinrich Kley. Here two nude nymphs shower yellow flowers upon the body of an upright champion in the heroic mold, while an […]
Artist: Heinrich Kley
In this whimsically imaginative drawing from the German expressionist and Jugendstil artist Heinrich Kley, a nude water nymph, whose form and pose evoke Venus, frightens away a sea demon as her consort, a dolphin of sorts, looks on laughing. In this mixed medium detailed work, Kley inverts the viewers expectation of women’s sensuality in […]
Artist: Heinrich Kley
Who were the artist’s models and muses whose faces and figures are instantly recognizable to lovers of early 20th century art and photography? It’s a question we at Grapefruit Moon Gallery ask ourselves often, and the more we learn about them the more fascinating they become. To share our passion, we are offering a little vignette […]
A large oil on illustration board painting by E.F. Ward commissioned for an interior story titled “Drumheads and Dairy Maids” by Helen Topping Miller for the November 1918 edition of A Woman’s Home Companion. Work is beautifully displayed in oval matted, wide profile period antique frame behind glass.
Artist: E. F. Ward
A delightful pen & ink drawing of a flirty coquettish lass who goes by the name of “The Tango Girl”. In all ways this appears to be an artwork by Nell Brinkley though it is inscribed “Mae Howers”, not sure if this perhaps was the model? The image, style, handwriting and era all point to this being the work of Nell Brinkley.
Artist: After Nell Brinkley
A wonderful and rare surviving original watercolor and graphite illustration by the legendary Art Nouveau artist Raphael Kirchner. The image shows a sexually provocative “Kirchner Girl” in rolled silk stockings, seductively grilling the many hearts she has stolen. This appeared in print in La Vie Parisienne with the German language quip “Können Diese Herzen Warm Genug Sein?”, which translates loosely to “Are […]
Artist: Raphael Kirchner
This interior genre scene features an exotic Edwardian Spanish Senorita in traditional garb posing seductively as she coyly holds a fan. An original oil on canvas by the well listed artist Alonzo Kimball, who studied in Paris during the 1890s at Académie Julian and later at The Art Students League of New York. The artist is best remembered for the covers he painted for The Saturday Evening Post.
Artist: Alonzo Kimball
A rare surviving c. 1910 large pastel illustration by the well listed and prolific illustrator Frederick Duncan. The sporty yet flirty glamour girl co-ed with a school book and a tennis racket personifies the socially progressive, daring and active woman who was coming into fashion as the voluptuous ideal of the Victorian woman of means waned. Works like this by Duncan, a cover artist for The Saturday Evening Post, popularized this independent, carefree vision of womanhood.
Artist: Frederick Duncan
A delicately rendered high society Belle Epoque turn of the century Venice Italy gondola scene . Most likely an interior illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, as Wright was a weekly contributor there. Wright was born in 1872 and a member of the National Academy. He founded an artistic community in Westport, CT, and his works are in numerous museums and galleries . He is listed in Who’s Who in American Art, Davenports, the Artists Bluebook and The Illlustrator in America by Walt Reed.
Artist: George Hand Wright
