1940s

A bizarre and other-wordly rare surviving pulp cover painting by Harold W. McCauley for the October 1949 edition of “Amazing Stories”. A lurid and menacing, yet strangely beautiful illustration for the story “Tiger Women of Shadow Valley” by Berkeley Livingston. Story caption reads “There Was Death In Her Embrace”. This inspired work perfectly captures the luminous commercial technique and painterly elements of a successful Haddon Sundblom “Sundblom Shop” graduate and disciple in collision with pin-up girl, erotic science fiction pulp culture.

Tiger Woman of Shadow Valley

Artist: Harold McCauley

A searingly seductively blonde takes the stand in this hard boiled, pulp fiction inspired 1949 pin-up painting by Al Buell. Working for the Louis F. Dow calendar company under the pseudonym Al Leslie (Leslie was the artist’s middle name), Buell created this leggy, impish bad girl, a scandalous vixen reminiscent of the defiant film noir heroines who graced the screen in this post-war period.

Case Dis-missed

Artist: Al Buell

A sensational, action packed, original oil painting by Allen Anderson. Commissioned as a cover for the pulp title Spicy Detective this work illustrates “The Corpse is Yours” by Robert A. Garron in the May 1941 issue. The artist created a number of these spicy covers for Culture Publications in the 1930s and 1940s. Anderson had some fun with this painting, presenting his signature on the canvas of the oil painting pictured within the scene, he also employs a very thick impasto technique on the paint colors that appears on the artist’s palette at the bottom of the field to appear as fresh paint used on the canvas being created within.

The Corpse Is Yours

Artist: Allen Anderson

A lurid, action filled, original pulp cover oil on canvas by Harry Lemon Parkhurst / H. L. Parkhurst, one of the premier artists creating spicy pulp imagery for Culture Publications during the 1930s – 40s. This work illustrates “It’s Your Funeral” by Robert A. Garron and was used as the cover for the June 1941 issue of Private Detective. Surviving pulp paintings for this title and by this artist are scarce and this painting has it all; action, danger, drama, menace and movement.

It’s Your Funeral

Artist: H. L. Parkhurst

A rare and fabulous surviving commissioned calendar art pin-up painting by Al Buell titled on verso A Perfect Pair. From a series of paintings Buell did for Brown & Bigelow, The Playmate Series. This was for the month of October and dates to the late 1940s. Buell worked with Gil Elvgren in the Sundblom studios in Chicago and his accounts included Coca-Cola. His oils are among the best in the genre, they capture the pretty girl next door (albeit generally under-dressed) and have a wholesomeness rare in the pin-up form.

A Perfect Pair

Artist: Al Buell

A dark, masterfully suspenseful, photo-realist in technique painting by noted American illustrator and avant-garde filmmaker Douglass Crockwell. This menacing oil on board was likely used as an interior illustration in an American slick magazine such as The Saturday Evening Post, or Colliers. Crockwell was a gifted and precise artist, his advertising accounts included Coca-Cola, GE and US Steel.

The Captive

Artist: Douglass Crockwell

A striking in technique light and shadow in composition rare surviving original pastel on illustration board by Earl MacPherson created in the 1940s for a Patriotic pin-up brochure with text on how to survive an enemy military air raid and subsequent blackout. We will be selling all of the pastels from this important commissioned homeland wartime “Blackout Brochure”. This was a cheeky, lighthearted morale boosting effort making great use of double entendre and the talents of MacPherson to fight fear during World War II.

Incendiary Bombs

Artist: Earl MacPherson

An electric in composition rare surviving original pastel on illustration board by Earl MacPherson created in the 1940s for a Patriotic pin-up brochure with text on how to survive an enemy military air raid and subsequent blackout. We will be selling all of the pastels from this important commissioned homeland wartime “Blackout Brochure”. This was a cheeky, lighthearted morale boosting effort making great use of double entendre and the talents of MacPherson to fight fear during World War II.

Comfort Beside You

Artist: Earl MacPherson

This is a unique and intriguing pair of original illustrations by Rolf Armstrong, created over the July 4th weekend in 1941, at the Brown & Bigelow holiday company retreat at Breezy Point Lodge in Northern Minnesota. Armstrong, and his favorite model, Jewel Flowers, were celebrities at the event, and Armstrong was called upon to create this impromptu view of Jewel in all-American sporting poses, as an instructional event. Jewel sat lakeside modeling, as Rolf depicted her first beneath a tent, then with a dog, then finally, holding a newly caught fish, similar to the prized walleye she caught at Breezy Point that weekend. These two pieces provide a rare look at the process Armstrong used to develop his iconic pin up creations, and come from the estate of Mike Wooldridge the co-author of “Pin-up Dreams” the well regarded and thoughtfully compiled monograph on the artist.

Jewel Flowers at Breezy Point

Artist: Rolf Armstrong

From the estate of Mike Wooldridge, our friend sadly departed and deeply missed author, historian and advanced pin-up collector comes this new to the the market original pastel illustration by Rolf Armstrong. Pictured is Jewel Flowers, the artist’s favorite model and dear friend for decades. This beautiful pin up portrait dates to the war years of the 1940s and Jewel is depicted in a star spangled red, white and blue patriotic scarf as she readies herself to embark in an afternoon of sailing. Armstrong for several years in the early 1940s had a summer studio in Marblehead Mass, where he was able to combine his love of women, sailing and art and absorb the beautiful seaside imagery and bright vibrant colors associated with this historic beach town.

Embarking On a Sail

Artist: Rolf Armstrong

« Previous Page