Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

hollywood

From the personal collection of Joan Crawford, this large format double weight still features the timeless beauty and Hollywood legend at the height of her fame, in a dramatic portrait from Grand Hotel. By George Hurrell, who revolutionized glamour photography with his dramatic art deco portraits of film and theater personalities, this 1932 film still was hand printed by Hurrell for Crawford herself. She later presented the photograph as a gift to her chauffeur. A very rare jazz age view with important and historically intriguing provenance.

Joan Crawford in Grand Hotel

Artist: George Hurrell

A rare and exceedingly beautiful gelatin silver, double weight gallery photograph of film icon Judy Garland, by her favored MGM studio photographer Eric Carpenter. This image utilizes an art deco settee to capture a timeless and glamorous view of the young Garland. This double-weight photograph comes from the personal collection of Garland, and is stamped on verso by her estate as seen. This was hand printed by the photographer for the star, and photographs such as this were never intended for widespread distribution. This is a particularly captivating piece of fine art glamour photography, and captures a marquis film star by a top artist. We are pleased to be able to offer this wonderful photograph and many other large format vintage gallery portraits from the Golden age of Hollywood for sale exclusively through Grapefruit Moon Gallery.

Judy Garland

Artist: Eric Carpenter

This large, fresh to the market Henry Clive painting was created for the June 20th, 1948 cover of The American Weekly. The work finds the artist portraying Delilah as posed by Earl Carroll showgirl Beryl Wallace in seductive harem girl garb with barber’s shears prominently featured. Clive created a series of these artworks under the title “Enchantresses of the Ages” for Randolph Hearst’s American Weekly title where Clive enjoyed a three decade career as cover illustrator.

Enchantresses Of The Ages – Delilah

Artist: Henry Clive

Grapefruit Moon Gallery is delighted to offer this spectacularly executed, and exceedingly rare surviving original painting by Henry Clive of the glamorous silent era Hollywood superstar Gloria Swanson. Clive, a staff illustrator at Paramount, executed a series of portraits for for the film studio of stars including Rudolph Valentino, Mae Murray, Pola Negri, Betty Compson, Jackie Coogan and Charlie Chaplin. These portraits graced the lids of 1920s Canco company tins, and this is the only original painting from the series known to exist. It is truly rare treasure from the Lost Era of Hollywood.

Portrait of Gloria Swanson

Artist: Henry Clive

A deeply romantic jazz age view of Gilda Gray, “the Shimmy girl” from her starring turn in “The Devil’s Dancer.” This is a treasure of the orientalist movement in photography in the 1920s, featuring the theater and film star in highly exotic lush costuming and soft focus, hyper close up style. The rich sepia of the photography and the soft focus were among the signatures of photographer Irving Chidnoff, who specialized in these idealized yet realistic photographic portraits of theater and films stars in New York.

Gilda Gray in Sepia

Artist: Irving Chidnoff

A rare and exceedingly beautiful gelatin silver, double weight gallery photograph of film star Myrna Loy by Laszlo Willinger. This image utilizes a mirrored table to capture the beautiful Loy in a double image. The mirror image was one of the most innovative trends in art deco photography, as it relied on the precision lighting and bold crisp costuming that typified the period. Large double-weight photographs such as this were never intended for widespread distributions, and were hand printed by the photographers themselves.

Myrna Loy in Reflection

Artist: Laszlo Willinger

A hard-boiled and erotically posed masterful gallery portrait photograph of Winifred Shaw, from her role in the Rodger’s and Hart play “Simple Simon.” Shaw, a unique beauty with vixenish jazz age features, was soon to become a Hollywood musical performer in the wild Depression era productions of the 1930s. In this photograph by Roberts, with its naturalistic styling, and provocative smoking view, Winifred Shaw is shown in all her unique beauty and iconic eroticism. A rare example of the raw sexuality of jazz age theater photography.

Erotic Winifred Shaw Smoking

Artist: Roberts of Boston

A delightful original pastel by Charles Sheldon of a lavishly-attired Gloria Swanson posed in the style of a Follies Showgirl, bathed in red light. Double matted and framed in a period art deco gesso wood painted frame.

Follies Girl in Red

Artist: Charles Sheldon

An exceptional pastel rendering of a Gloria Swanson in blue glamorous Follies showgirl manner by Charles Sheldon. Pastel is double matted and framed in a museum quality carved wood frame.

Costumed Ziegfeld Follies Girl With Mask

Artist: Charles Sheldon

 

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