Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
A captivating, lustful, original cover painting by Victor Kalin created for use as cover art for the 1959 Dell paperback edition of the Scott Jordan mystery Murder on Broadway by Hal Masur. The work was titled The Last Gamble in its hardback incarnation, but the paperback title captures the lurid allure of the mystery of […]
Artist: Victor Kalin
This gouache on illustration board painting was created in 1927 by John Vassos, a singularly unique inventor, industrial designer and artist and illustrator, and appeared in the E.P. Dutton & Company edition of Salome.
Artist: John Vassos
A 1942 original pastel on board by Cardwell Higgins created for an advertising display sign for “Adola Brassieres”. Higgins executed a series of these images all with erotically charged pin-up girl style and often times set in Hawaii as in this example. This is the only known surviving pastel from this campaign, the text on the die-cut display created from the artwork read “The Secret To a Lovely Figure”.
Artist: Cardwell Higgins
An original oil on board illustration used as the cover for Joker No.16 – a 1949 digest sized magazine advertising “More Snappy Cartoons – Smack Full of Laughter!” A leggy, busty and quintessentially Driben pin-up beauty is seen trying her hand at a little “sofa fission” as the caption will have you know. Illustration is in a fine state of conservation, nicely framed and matted in a period, wide profile, handsome, gesso art deco frame.
Artist: Peter Driben
An original gouache cover illustration for an unidentified issue of the notorious French publication “La Vie Parisienne”. The long running, humorous and racy magazine chronicled the exploits and sexual proclivities of sassy and free spirited French follies showgirls and their often dim witted suitors in risque, breezy, spicy pulp-like fashion. This original gouache painting is nicely double matted in an oval window in a fine antique ornate gesso gold frame behind glass.
Artist: Maurice Milliere
This endearing original 1967 oil on canvas painting by Gil Elvgren was created for the Brown & Bigelow calendar company and published under the title Ruffled Feathers. A spirited and colorful pin-up painting featuring a redheaded photographer in silk stockings and garters who runs into unexpected troubles as she attempts to capture the likeness of […]
Artist: Gil Elvgren
Harry Barton painted this steamy gouache illustration for use as the cover of 1952’s Tender Hearted Harlot by Val Munroe. Published as a pulp digest, novella length story that takes place on the San Francisco waterfront and follows the proclivities of the young, bold and beautiful Ginny Parrish who… “is a gambler to the core – but the one thing she won’t bet on is love…” Sounds like a real page turner! The painting is in pristine condition and has been nicely matted and framed under glass, a copy of the published digest is included in the sale.
Artist: Harry Barton
This deliriously posed nude original artwork is by Earle K. Bergey and was created for a 1933 cover of La Paree Stories.
Artist: Earle K. Bergey
A large expressive C. 1920 Art Deco American painting signed by the artist Sidis, a name which is unfamiliar to us. Though mysterious, this is a fabulous work featuring a harem of nude forest sprites making merriment in lavish erotic dance. The tree foliage is boldly applied impasto paint, which provides stark contrast to the muted tones […]
Artist: Sidis
The Main Attraction is a large, colorful, and very well-executed 1930s art deco-era fine art oil painting by the Lithuanian-American artist Jack Levitz. A Jewish immigrant who settled in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Levitz’s social realist/Ashcan School style recalls George Luks and Everett Shinn. This oil on canvas shows a seedy New York City theater, with a writhing burlesque dancer bathed in […]
Artist: Jack Levitz
