Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
From renowned American illustrator Cardwell Higgins comes this pen & ink on artist's paper illustration that was created for Eastern Airlines with a plane whizzing through the air showing the logo for the airlines by its tail--a logo that Higgins also designed. With progress-minded, art deco imagery, this aviation themed piece is framed alongside a portrait […]
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
Price: Sold
This Orientalist art deco avant-garde pen & ink drawing by Cardwell Higgins is an early work by the renowned illustrator that recalls the erotic and stylized work of British artist Aubrey Beardsley. This is part of a series of similarly exotic and provocative drawings Higgins created between 1927 - 1929, which would much later be marketed as a series of […]
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
Price: Sold
Pre-code Hollywood starlet Verna Hillie is the subject of this erotically charged pastel portrait which was likely used as a cover for the title Reel Movie Fun, a short lived wild and racy publication. Pastel is dated and signed on the back and the sitter is identified in the artist's hand as seen.
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
Price: Sold
Offered here is an original piece of camera ready artwork--pen and ink with collage elements--created for billboard advertising usage during World War II.
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
Price: Sold
A finely executed dated 1927 pen & ink illustration on board by Cardwell Higgins with inventive art deco style. A Persian attired Orientalist showgirl is depicted in a burlesque vaudeville-era Ziegfeld Follies inspired theatrical production. The work recalls the erotic and stylized pen & ink works of British artist Aubrey Beardsley.
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
Price: Sold
An inventive stylized colorful dated gouache advertising painting by Cardwell Higgins for "Aris Britland Doeskin" gloves. An inventive color palette and attention to fashion style details make this a compelling and inventive example. A tear sheet of the printed work from the artist's scrapbook is included in the sale.
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
Price: Sold
An early fabulous pen & ink drawing by Cardwell Higgins in the art deco manner titled "Siamese Dancers", possibly a commissioned work for use by Paramount Films where the artist was under contract in the late 1920s. Higgins completed a series of like minded costumed art deco pen & ink drawings between the years of 1927 - 1929 that were re-marketed as a series of limited edition art prints under the guidance of Charles Martignette in 1979. The work is finely matted and framed behind glass in a handsome art deco black and silver fine gallery frame.
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
Price: Sold
A rare surviving pastel cover illustration by Cardwell Higgins for the first issue of Screen Humor Magazine; January 1934, Volume #1 - Issue #1. A very sexy flapper girl in silk stockings and garter belts from the art deco era when America's news stands were filled with these often times very short lived runs of titillating Spicy Pulp titles that featured brazenly erotic pin-up girl depictions of showgirls and jazz-age playthings.
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
Price: S O L D
A bold, defining and lurid pastel cover illustration for The July 1942 "Expose Detective True Crime Cases" illustrating the interior story "Sex Was My Racket". In this case the tables are turned to lurid effect as the typically menaced pin-up queen cover girl is brandishing a large gleaming knife and a hard boiled outlook. A large and desirable rare surviving example of the detective genre of the Spicy Pulps. From the important estate of Charles Martignette, co-author of "The Great American Pin-up".
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
Price: S O L D
A tremendous original late 1920s pen and ink drawing by Cardwell Higgins titled "A Delightful Page in the Record of My Existence". The artist created five of these noir illustrative costumed art deco pen & ink drawings between the years of 1927 - 1929 that were later marketed as limited edition art prints under the guidance of Charles Martignette in 1979. This is assuredly the finest from this series of Aubrey Beardsley / Harry Clarke inspired fantasy scenes that the young Higgins executed. From the Estate of Charles Martignette, who championed the efforts of Cardwell Higgins and organized a one man show for the artist in 1983 shortly after the artist's death in Hollywood Florida.
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
Price: Sold
