Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

holiday

A large American impressionist oil painting by the well listed illustrator Edmund Davenport. A frequent cover artist for a number of Golden Age of Illustration glossy magazine titles, Davenport excelled at this manner of romancing the celebratory moments of life without resorting to obvious sentimentalism. This well realized and luminous work utilizes an impasto technique and a lush fall color palette and was used as the cover for the November 1928 Thanksgiving cover for The American Magazine.

Thanksgiving Day Harvest

Artist: Edmund Davenport
Price:  $8,500.00

A stiring and patriotic moving World War I era original illustration by noted American illustrator C. Clyde Squires (1883-1970) who was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1883. His work was published in Western Romances, LIFE, and Womans Home Companion. Signed lower right “C. Clyde Squires.” Measures 17 x 24 inches unframed, framed 18 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches. Painted on artist’s board, very good condition, framed behind glass.

Meeting The Kind Nurse

Artist: C. Clyde Squires
Price:  Sold

    A cheerful and romantic seasonal Holiday themed gouache illustration by the prolific and well regarded Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame inductee artist Joe Bowler for an interior story titled “The Christmas House.”  This appeared in the December, 1958 edition of The Ladies Home Journal. A fabulous time capsule with a colorful mid-century modern […]

The Christmas House

Artist: Joe Bowler
Price:  Sold

An enchanting and one of a kind original watercolor by my favorite illustrator, Henry Clive. Given as a Christmas present in 1928. Inscribed “Dear old Art — Be good and you’ll be eccentric.” Dated “Hollywood-Christmas 1928.” Watercolor mimics a published Smart Set cover. I will include color copy of the published cover with sale.

Flapper Girl Painted by Pierrot

Artist: Henry Clive
Price:  Sold

This never before offered for sale, large original Gil Elvgren calendar pin-up painting was originally commissioned by the Brown & Bigelow calendar company in 1950 for their “Miss Sylvania” advertising line. The stylized cobalt blue and neon light idealized view of Midtown Manhattan with The Sylvania Building ablaze in the night underscore the importance of the lighting and electric company to the city that never sleeps.

Miss Sylvania in Manhattan

Artist: Gil Elvgren
Price:  Sold

A Christmas themed dazzling original calendar illustration by Bill Layne for The Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company. This was for a pharmacy drugstore account and appeared on a Christmas Holiday Calendar in 1953. Layne worked for Walt Disney in the art department creating story board graphics and design embellishments which is apparent here in his twinkling Tinkerbell fairy goddess depiction.

Tinkerbell Rx

Artist: Bill Layne
Price:  S O L D

In this nostalgic themed oil and graphite on board, Bill Medcalf offers a view of a sleigh arriving at a rural family home. Evoking memories of ancestral Christmases past, the scene features a smiling group of three generations of kin enjoying a snowy morning. The mustached man and woman holding a baby are featured in many images created by Medcalf, and presumably these were intended to become a year long calendar, which tells a story of a family through time.

Winter Wonderland

Artist: William Medcalf
Price:  S O L D

An inventive and unique hand crafted Holiday Seasons Greeting Card from the F. Burtis Clayton Company who we believe were a commercial airbrush art studio. The cover features a streamlined airbrushed painting of a modernist silhouetted cityscape with planes, trains and automobiles ushering in the machine age. Nicely framed, this opens to reveal text and New Year’s wishes as would a more typical holiday card.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Artist: Unknown
Price:  S O L D

During the 50s, Bil Medcalf was one of Brown & Bigelow’s star illustrators, creating 12 page calendar series based around themes of classic Americana. Here, he evokes a classic 4th of July celebration with revelers enjoying a day at Riverside Park. From the soldier checking out the ravishing redhead disembarking her carriage, to the new parents cooing over their baby buggy, the scene evokes a vision of a simpler time, and a patriotic and nostalgic sense of 19th century America.

Riverside Park, 4th of July

Artist: William Medcalf
Price:  S O L D

A rare surviving art deco gouache painting by one of our favorite American illustrators Edward Eggleston. This was created as the cover for a Valentines Day themed crafting magazine, Dennison’s Party Magazine,Jan/Feb 1928. Eggleston was a New York based calendar artist and illustrator who is best remembered today for his Jazz Age, racy and stylized 1920s Atlantic City travel posters that brought to light the allure of the flapper girl with risque bathing beauty imagery.

The Valentine Girl

Artist: Edward Eggleston
Price:  Sold

 

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