Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
A rugged and gritty WWII – era illustration by the prolific American artist E.F. Ward, which was created as part of the advertising campaign for Seiberling Rubber Company. Published as the central image for a magazine interior advertisement that appeared in numerous wartime periodicals, Safe Passage is a large format well-realized gouache on illustration board painting which […]
Artist: E.F. Ward
This stunning oil on canvas painting by the illustrator F.R. Harper, presents a beautiful partisan French fighter looking over the ruins of a French village. Harper gained notoriety at the turn of the last century for his nostalgic and beautiful Indian Maiden images, and as World War I unfolded, he turned his attention to images like this which personified patriotic […]
Artist: F.R. Harper
A striking in technique light and shadow in composition rare surviving original pastel on illustration board by Earl MacPherson created in the 1940s for a Patriotic pin-up brochure with text on how to survive an enemy military air raid and subsequent blackout. We will be selling all of the pastels from this important commissioned homeland wartime “Blackout Brochure”. This was a cheeky, lighthearted morale boosting effort making great use of double entendre and the talents of MacPherson to fight fear during World War II.
Artist: Earl MacPherson
This original 1942 oil-on-board artwork by well listed female artist Bettina Steinke was commissioned for a United States Government WWII poster titled “Keep ‘Em Flying”. The image also became popular as a calendar art print titled “When They Came Marching Home” for The Louis F. Dow calendar company during the years of World War II and the immediate post-war period. The image became one of the enduring pictures of a changing America during wartime, featuring a victory girl nurse and armed forces servicemen working together to protect the nation.
Artist: Bettina Steinke
A large, signed and dated oil on canvas by noted and prolific Golden age illustrator Ralph Pallen Coleman. The work was commissioned for a 2 page spread in the November 1933 edition of Redbook Magazine, illustrating the Military-themed melodrama “Rank and File” by Charles L. Clifford and Mary C. McCall, Jr. The published edition of Redbook is included in the sale and the painting is nicely framed and ready to hang.
Artist: Ralph Coleman
A large scale impressive oil on stretched canvas by noted New York City illustrator Howard Chandler Christy titled “Surrender of the Blockhouse, Spanish-American War”. A boldly rendered impressionist work that depicts one of the war’s climactic battle scenes of 1898. Signed lower left and framed with a title plaque. Stretcher bar bears the notation “Oct. Cover.” This is a defining example of the artist’s historically impactful work that deftly shows Christy’s expertise in making battle scenes come to life.
Artist: Howard Chandler Christy
