In this gouache-on-board cover illustration for 1952’s The Scarlet Slipper, James Meese captures the unique mixture of the American homestead with a tough-talking private eye in the mix.
Artist: James Alfred Meese
paperback
This was the original camera ready artwork used in the production of the 1970 Avon paperback edition of the novel The Favorite Game by Leonard Cohen.
Artist: Milton Charles
This gouache illustration painting appeared on the cover of Naked Sinner, the 1959 “savage novel of a wild call girl and her shocking immoral affairs”.
Artist: American Artist
A captivating, lustful, original cover painting by Victor Kalin created for use as cover art for the 1959 Dell paperback edition of the Scott Jordan mystery Murder on Broadway by Hal Masur. The work was titled The Last Gamble in its hardback incarnation, but the paperback title captures the lurid allure of the mystery of […]
Artist: Victor Kalin
Bold, large and provocative, a sensational scandalous paperback cover painting by Rudy Nappi which was created for use as the cover of French Alley by Matthew Clay. Part of the Star Novels series of digest sized paperbacks released by Publication House, NYC, this steamy novel follows the proclivities of three young attractive women who endure heartbreak and discover rapture […]
Artist: Rudy Nappi
A subversive youth gone wild party scene original cover painting by Peter Driben likely used for a paperback book title published by the Novel Library imprint. During the 1950s a hedonistic bohemian fictional sub-culture existed where teens smoked reefer and engaged in orgiastic exploits while becoming addicted to heroin. In showing these delinquents pursuing their darkest sinful desires, the illustrators of the day seemed to take great joy and this is a prime example of this sort of homage to debauchery.
Artist: Peter Driben
The aptly titled Teen-Age Terror shows a lurid, youth gone wild, over the top image of a highly sensationalized girl gang initiation. In this oil-on-masonite cover painting, American illustrator James Alfred Meese captured the moral panic over juvenile delinquency that was a focal point of American culture in the 1950s, most notably explored in films like Rebel Without a […]
Artist: James Alfred Meese
Pulp and paperback artist Edward Mortiz created this femme fatale artwork as the cover of the 1961 Beacon Books title House Party by Dominique Napier.
Artist: Edward Moritz
A large format, lurid and iconic paperback cover painting by Verne Tossey that was used as the cover for the 1955 Ace paperback Left Bank Of Desire.
Artist: Verne Tossey
The 1961 cover painting for the Beacon Book title Wild Body was created by an as-of-yet unidentified American artist. This novel by Manning Clay first appeared in digest form in 1953, our gallery also has that earlier cover painting available for sale. This lurid sleaze pulp fiction offering promises a wild ride — with more […]
Artist: Unknown American Artist
