Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
A hauntingly beautiful, erotically charged, reclining nude pastel by Rolf Armstrong from his very best period. This nude was never published and dates from right around 1930; a seductive light and shadow meditation that finds Armstrong contemplating the “temptation of allure” and “the allure of temptation” in this jazz-age, art deco erotic rendering of a veiled showgirl finding the light.
Artist: Rolf Armstrong
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
An electric 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
George Petty’s enormously successful career as an illustrator began in the mid-1920s painting magazine covers and images of beautiful girls for calendars. The creation that made him legendary debuted in the first issue of Esquire magazine in 1933. The “Petty Girl,” with her dreamy curves and witty banter, quickly became a popular symbol of the American male’s feminine ideal.Esquire produced two other calendars by Petty in 1955 and 1956. This painting appeared as the September Petty Girl in the 1956 Esquire calendar. Rendered in watercolor on board, nicely framed and ready to hang.
Artist: George Petty
Grapefruit Moon Gallery is ecstatic to offer the original pair of carved Hondurous Mahogany decorative column panels that were built for the tavern in Hollywood California’s legendary Masquers Club on 6735 Yucca Street. These Afro-American nymphs were carved by the noted WPA muralist and woodcarver Stuart Holmes. We purchased these with the two large original Henry Clive Masquers Club mural paintings we offered and sold earlier this year.
Artist: Stuart Holmes
Grapefruit Moon Gallery is ecstatic to offer Zoe Mozert’s 1950 pastel “Song of the Desert”. This is by all accounts the artist’s crowning achievement and most famous image. A luminous masterwork from the golden age of American pin up, it is one of the most widely circulated and printed pin-up images of all time. Enticingly, this is a self-portrait of Mozert, who made a name for herself both as the most famous female American illustrator of her day and a frequent model for her erotically charged illustrations.
Artist: Zoe Mozert
A dramatic and artfully posed gelatin silver original photograph by Edward Bower Hesser taken along the secluded shores of the California Coast. A pretty pair of lounging nude models mindful of the nude imagery of Edward Weston another noted nude Pictorialist who worked in Southern California during the 1920s – 30s art deco jazz-age. From an Allied Artist’s Photographers Guild east coast estate. An original graflex photograph taken by Hesser for use in his “Art’s Monthly Pictorial” photography magazine for artists and art students.
Artist: Edwin Bower Hesser
A dramatic and artfully posed gelatin silver original photograph by Edward Bower Hesser taken along the secluded shores of the California Coast. A pretty model in a dancers pose which brings to mind the nude imagery of Edward Weston another noted nude Pictoralist who worked in Southern California during the 1920s – 30s art deco jazz-age. From an Allied Artist’s Photographers Guild east coast estate. An original graflex photograph taken by Hesser for use in his “Art’s Monthly Pictorial” photography magazine for artists and art students.
Artist: Edwin Bower Hesser
A lovely original gelatin silver photograph by Edwin Bower Hesser of a seductive nude model in soft focus. We believe the model to be Jeanette Loff a silent film siren and Rolf Armstrong pin-up model. From an Allied Artist’s Photographers Guild east coast estate. An original graflex photograph taken by Hesser for use in his “Art’s Monthly Pictorial” photography magazine for artists and art students.
Artist: Edwin Bower Hesser
An original 4″ by 5″ sepia photograph of Hollywood legend Jean Harlow posed nude at Los Angeles’ Griffith park in 1929. An original first generation gelatin silver antique photograph by Edwin Bower Hesser. From an Allied Artist’s Photographers Guild east coast estate. An original graflex photograph taken and developed by Hesser for use in his “Art’s Monthly Pictorial” photography magazine for artists and art students.
Artist: Edwin Bower Hesser
