Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

1940s

A delightful, vibrant watercolor work by Frances Tipton Hunter commissioned either for calendar use or as a cover for an American mainstream magazine. A wholesome Americana depiction titled “For A Good Boy,” this scene typifies the style Hunter was known for. A group of children marvel at the center boys new bicycle presented him on his birthday the card reads “For a Good Boy…” Piece is nicely matted and framed, signed lower right and addressed on the verso in the artist’s hand with her Philadelphia Pa. address.

For a Good Boy

Artist: Francis Tipton Hunter

A new to the market delightful gouache painting by the Chicago area artist and “Sundblom Shop” pin-up illustrator Harry Ekman. A stylish redheaded Burlesque performer with bright red lips in sexy opera gloves and an ostrich plumed fan. Work is nicely matted and framed and a fine example by this prolific yet hard to come by gifted pin-up artist and commercial illustrator.

The Ostrich Plume Girl

Artist: Harry Ekman

A dazzling and scarce surviving commercial pin-up illustration by Pearl Frush Brudon, a successful female illustrator who worked in gouache and watercolors with a unique and spectacular photo realism to her works. A lovely red headed seductress of the 1940s appears in soft focus in this luminous work, signed lower right with the artist’s married name.

Glamorous Beauty in Soft Focus

Artist: Pearl Frush

Featuring a Depression-era machinist at work creating a Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine, this 1940 artwork by WPA artist Alton Tobey combines the unusual muted palate and composition of the regionalist movement with the dystopian feel of the surrealists. This powerful oil on canvas was created for the East Hartford Pratt & Whitney plant, and presents a deeply moving picture of industrialism in the lead up to World War II.

WPA Machinist

Artist: Alton Tobey

A rare surviving original cover painting by Enoch Bolles which appeared as the cover for the June 1945 Issue of Breezy Stories an envelope pushing, spicy pulp publication of much notoriety. This was most likely painted earlier than the published date noted here, as the magazine was in the practice of re-using existing artwork for its covers and the style and imagery mark this as coming from the 1930s, when Bolles produced his most inventive and important work.

Pin Up Girl With Garlands

Artist: Enoch Bolles

A recently unearthed original pastel on illustration board, this never before seen artwork by Earl Moran was created for the Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company. The model is of course the young Blue Book agency pin-up model Norma Jeane Baker, who later transformed herself into Marilyn Monroe. Monroe posed for Moran during the late 1940’s and a pictorial of this collaboration appears in the July 2008 issue of Playboy Magazine. This pastel is a warm and radiant portrait of Monroe gazing seductively from a lush tropical moonlit setting. We are thrilled to be offering this monumental work.

Marilyn Monroe In Paradise

Artist: Earl Moran

A captivating and well rendered glamour girl commercial illustration by Haddon Sundblom for Schlitz Beer. Image shows a pretty, spirited gardener quenching her thirst with a cold beer. A classic Americana image, acquired from the estate of illustrator Albert Berwinkle, who worked with Sundblom on advertising campaigns in Illinois. Berwinkle traded some of his own artwork with his friend “Sunny” and this piece was given to Berwinkle by Sundblom. Artwork is unsigned but guaranteed to be the work of Haddon Sundblom.

A Pause that Refreshes

Artist: Haddon Sundblom (attributed)

A lurid and menacing presumably commissioned cover painting for an as of yet undetermined spicy pulp publication circa 1930s-40s. By the New York State artist George Lee Trimm, who worked as a cover artist for various Western Fiction Publishing [Red Circle] pulps C. 1935-1942. Trimm created commissioned murals for the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York and is listed in Who’s Who in American Art.

Undone by the Sun

Artist: George Trimm

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

 

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