Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
This oil on illustration board Pyramid Books paperback cover painting was created by by Victor Olson for a 1953 edition of Houseboy by Edison Marshall written under the nom de plum Walton Fairbank (ostensibly because of the controversial topic of interracial relationships explored in the title).The story was originally written as a Jim Crow title in the late […]
Artist: Victor Olson
A bawdy smoking redheaded bad girl finds herself proverbially “on the fence” and garnering the attention of a pair of well articulated convincing hayseeds in this large and wonderful original paperback book cover illustration by Sam Cherry. Painted in the 1950s, an oil on illustration board which was created for an as of yet unidentified paperback title exploring […]
Artist: Sam Cherry
Grapefruit Moon Gallery is ecstatic to offer Sultana, the original Louis F. Dow commissioned calendar pin-up painting by Henry Clive. Created in 1925, Sultana is in all regards the artist’s signature and defining creation, featuring an exotic nearly nude dreamy enchantress in an Art Deco Egyptian fantasy dreamscape. This enchanting artwork is littered with sophisticated touches such as the Moorish architecture which glimmers behind Sultana as she releases a white dove. This timeless image was again issued in 1941 as a mutoscope card with the title Lucky Dove–a vintage calendar print and mutoscope card are included in the sale.
Artist: Henry Clive
A rugged and gritty WWII – era illustration by the prolific American artist E.F. Ward, which was created as part of the advertising campaign for Seiberling Rubber Company. Published as the central image for a magazine interior advertisement that appeared in numerous wartime periodicals, Safe Passage is a large format well-realized gouache on illustration board painting which […]
Artist: E.F. Ward
An original early 1930’s oil on canvas illustration, presumably of exotic silent movie film star, Anna May Wong. Henry Clive did a series of oil paintings titled Enchantresses of the Ages for Randolph Hearst’s American Weekly Magazine of ethnic glamour portrait studies.
Artist: Henry Clive
An epic and poignant large allegorical preparatory painting by Eugene Savage for the mural titled Armistice, which was created for and still resides in the front reception room at The Elks Veteran Memorial in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Artist: Eugene Savage
An inventive example of modern abstract art by the prolific pulp artist Virgil Finlay, signed and dated 1966 and titled on verso “Gambling Man”. Notations found on the back of the painting in Virgil Finlay’s handwriting read “The buttons of the jailer,”January 6, 1966, on reading Brian Moore re Caffey.)
Artist: Virgil Finlay
Tom Lovell created this colorful and expertly rendered painting to illustrate “Son of The Coach” an interior story for the October 14, 1950 issue of Collier’s Magazine. A copy of the magazine is included in the sale. The scene captures a brunette co-ed turning away in sadness from the ongoing marching band celebration in the background, as the son of […]
Artist: Tom Lovell
This technically dazzling painting by the French-American artist, muralist, and illustrator Andre Durenceau shows a colorful art deco landscape conceived in the manner of Rockwell Kent, with a lake in the foreground and an oversized flying fish adding the surreal touch for which the artist was known to the scene. This gouache on canvas is signed lower right and […]
Artist: Andre Durenceau
For nearly three decades the inimitable Enoch Bolles was the sole cover artist for Film Fun magazine, creating larger than life and uniquely erotic pin up creations that bridged the gap between the traditional calendar girl and pulp magazine femme-fatales. In this example, which graced the cover of the June 1940 issue, a streamlined […]
Artist: Enoch Bolles
