Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
This majestic and otherworldly oil-on-board by the New York illustrator A.D. Rahn is a reflection on the decadence of the Broadway stage circa 1915. A beautiful and haughty blonde, whose bobbed hair and dropped waist gown evoke Irene Castle, is seen emerging from backstage with the help of a green imp, her own high […]
Artist: A.D. Rahn
Patten Wilson, the British Art Nouveau illustrator and fine artist created this immaculately detailed and haunting watercolor on paper for use as frieze panel decoration for a high end wallpaper company. At the turn of the 20th century, lavishly decorated Victorian homes would feature rooms filled with fine art wall-coverings that recalled the symbolist mural […]
Artist: Patten Wilson
A sensational original signed and dated 1912 painting by Edmund Dulac published as the fourth plate in the Hodder & Stougton edition of The Bells and Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe. A master of early 20th century illustrations, Dulac is known for his mysterious and compelling depictions of fairytales and imagined lands. Pictured […]
Artist: Edmund Dulac
This dark and cleverly conceived and technically brilliant tinted pen & ink drawing with gouache highlights exemplifies the German expressionist artist Heinrich Kley’s brooding and satirical vision of mankind. At first take, we see a bear, ogre, and frog cavorting in a circus-like atmosphere, but on further reflection the scene turns darker. Kley’s pessimism […]
Artist: Heinrich Kley
A delicately rendered, romanticized art nouveau maiden posed with a cornucopia filled with a plentiful summer’s harvest. This original watercolor illustration painting was created by the New York illustrator, muralist and fine artist Will Hicok Low for the August 1899 cover of McClure’s Magazine – Midsummer Fiction Number. A copy of the magazine is included in the sale and the painting is handsomely framed and matted behind glass and ready to enjoy.
Artist: Will Hicok Low
In this inspired and tremendously fun pen and ink illustration, two Brinkley girls are seen in an all out battle to catch a bridal bouquet tossed by an unseen hand. In an ironic turn, they become so engrossed in their conflict that the flowers they are fighting for appear about to fall to the ground. The frenzied scene, with its youthful energy and sexuality suggests the ambivalence of Brinkley’s new woman towards traditional marriage.
Artist: Nell Brinkley
A tense and well rendered set at sea Golden Age of Illustration painting by the noted and prolific American artist Ralph Pallen Coleman, signed and dated 1925 in the lower right corner. Set aboard a ship at sea, the image hints that the vessel is heading into troubled waters at least metaphorically. While the well groomed male calmly prepares to light his pipe, his pretty flapper companion holds her hand over her heart, both attracted to and made nervous by taking this trip with her suitor.
Artist: Ralph Coleman
A dazzling Heinrich Kley mixed media work featuring a host of primordial animals engaged in an orgiastic dance of evolution. A splendid cast of characters is assembled by this fondly remembered avant-garde, Jugendstil, German Expressionist artist. This is a rare full color example of the artist’s work, most surviving pieces by Kley are pen & ink drawings. This evocative artwork is rich in humor, technique and imagery. Work is in a wonderful state of preservation and nicely matted and framed in a period gesso frame.
Artist: Heinrich Kley
The Light of New York by Walter Dean Goldbeck was created as a full page color advertisement that ran in The Saturday Evening Post for General Electric. The inspired and almost transcendentally captivating image would later become a Judge Magazine cover (August 1, 1914) under the title “The Spirit of New York”. The image, which features a mischievous goddess sprinkling moonlight down onto the city below also captured the imagination of music publishers Fred Fischer, who used it as a sheet music cover for his composition “I Found a Rose in the Devil’s Garden.”
Artist: Walter Dean Goldbeck
An elementally beautiful nymph in the midst of metamorphosis rises from the churning sea in this mythic and beautiful 1907 oil on canvas by Paul Swan. This important early example from the artist, who was himself a social butterfly, features tremendous sophistication of technique, and combines the Art Nouveau style which was popular at the time with hints of the streamlined figural forms which would become synonymous with the art deco era.
Artist: Paul Swan
