Inspired by the work of Harry Clarke, this art deco nude avant-garde pen & ink drawing by Cardwell Higgins was titled by the artist “The Elements Involved”.
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
Charles Martignette
This original gouache painting by Harry Bennett was used as cover art for the Pyramid paperback publication of “Cry Shame” written by Gore Vidal under the pseudonym Katherine Everard. During his early career, Vidal published under several pseudonyms in order to evade the accusation that the rate of his publishing made it impossible for him to be a “serious” literary author. This is a singular opportunity to own an original piece of both illustration art and literary history, from the estate of Charles Martignette.
Artist: Harry Bennett
A lyrical American impressionist oil painting by Charles Allan Winter, one of our favorite 20th century fine artists and illustrators. This is a large and important work with two demure Art Nouveau maidens in a lush and colorful stylized fantasy landscape. Verso retains original exhibition card and title of “Music”. Housed in a wide profile hand carved Paul Carter Goodnow American Arts & Crafts frame, a defining example from the Charles Martignette collection.
Artist: Charles Winter
A remarkable, large, signed and dated 1929 oil painting by one of the leading “cabin art” calendar artists Frank Stick. Known best for his genre illustrations for the Thomas D. Murphy Calendar Company, Stick also worked for many early 20th century magazine titles including Collier’s, Sports Afield and The Saturday Evening Post creating rugged outdoorsman scenes culled from his own experiences. This is a unique offering by the artist, featuring a pretty Pre-Raphaelite Viking mother and her newborn child emerging from a long winter, a cherished example from the Charles Martignette collection.
Artist: Frank Stick
The Circle Of Life is an art deco allegorical avant-garde pen & ink drawing by Cardwell Higgins. This early offering by the renowned illustrator recalls the erotic and stylized work of British artist Aubrey Beardsley while considering man’s relationship to mortality. This is part of a series of similarly exotic and provocative drawings Higgins created between 1927 – 1929, which would much […]
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
Lady of Mystery is a supreme example of art deco pin-up calendar art by Edward Eggleston, created in 1938 for the V.P. Wright Litho Company. Without question, this is one of the most iconic images from the 1930s, and for good reason. The purple prose V.P. Wright came up with to adorn the calendar does a better […]
Artist: Edward Eggleston
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
A fabulous published erotic pin-up painting by Freeman Elliott for The Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company. The image appeared in 1948 as one of the two images in a double deck of playing cards put out by the calendar giant marketed with the title “Winning Aces”. From the Collection of Charles Martignette and Louis Meisel, the […]
Artist: Freeman Elliott
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
This playfully spirited and sexy original oil on canvas pin-up painting by Edward Runci was published by the Shaw-Barton Calendar Company in 1947 with the title “Wish You Were Here.” The artist was an outstanding painter of pin-ups during the 1940s and 50s whose smooth style was much admired by his contemporaries. Unlike the majority of other […]
Artist: Edward Runci
