Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
One of the earliest existing examples of Erté’s Art Deco cover illustrations for Harper’s Bazar, this gouache painting appeared in November 1918 under the title Les Bulles de Savon. The image showcases two chic Parisian ladies, icons of the new modernist turn, blowing bubbles in which are seen a parade of Edwardian and Art Nouveau fashions. A whimsical yet […]
Artist: Erté
Erté, often called the father of Art Deco, described the style as “the confluence of Cubism and Art Nouveau.” Nowhere is that combination more clearly seen than in this gouache on board illustration painting, which appeared as the October 1923 “Annual Fall Fashion” cover of Harper’s Bazar. In “Les Parfums” a dramatic figure, costumed in an […]
Artist: Erte
This important original gouache painting by Erté, the father of Art Deco, was created as a cover illustration for Harper’s Bazaar and was published in December 1932. Erté had a more than twenty year association with the magazine, and during that period created upwards of two hundred covers for the title, defining their sophisticated take on fashion and high […]
Artist: Erté
Here at Grapefruit Moon Gallery, we are always tickled when illustration art shows up on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow, the 12-time Emmy nominated standard-bearer that paved the way for Pawn Stars, Storage Locker Wars, and a host of others shows that have gotten Americans searching their attics for dusty treasures. As loyal viewers, we were among the nearly eight […]
A stunning, patriotic World War II era pastel by famed American illustrator Bradshaw Crandell. This appeared as the cover of the April, 1942 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. Intriguingly, posed in the Navy uniform was a young Yale Law student and male model named Gerald Ford, who would go on to be the 38th president of the United States. The pretty […]
Artist: Bradshaw Crandell
A sultry brunette in a form fitting, canary yellow number cools herself with a personal pinwheel hand fan in this original oil on board pin-up painting by Peter Driben. Created as the cover of the February, 1946 edition of Titter magazine–a post-war pulp title that promised Girls, Gags and Giggles. Titter bridged the gap between the spicy pulp […]
Artist: Peter Driben
A costumed flapper girl, dressed to the nines in jazz-age fineries at a masquerade ball, is seductively caught in the light of a romantic full moon in this oil on canvas by J. Walter Wilkinson. The artist was a prominent and revered American illustrator, and we presume this to be a magazine cover for an […]
Artist: J. Walter Wilkinson
It doesn’t get more action packed than this high drama scene of a gangster mol pin-up girl in a shoot out with an unseen mobster trying to push her out of a moving car in a seedy urban Chinatown. An original oil on board artwork by Wil Hulsey, this appeared as the cover of a 1956 issue of Guilty […]
Artist: Wil Hulsey
An eerie underwater view of two Navy Frogman divers, this gouache cover painting by Ed Lafferty appeared on the cover of the August, 1951 edition of Popular Mechanics. The scene illustrates an interior story that showcases the groundbreaking movie set design work of Louis Witte, Hollywood’s “ace authority on celluloid warfare.” Handsomely matted and […]
Artist: Ed Lafferty
Nothing says “I’ve arrived” about a genre of art than its appearance on the walls of museums and galleries, and though it could be argued that illustration art is fashionably late to the party, its arrival is making a splash. Since the founding of Grapefruit Moon Gallery in 2003, we’ve seen a handful of touring exhibits […]
