Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
A rare surviving original cover painting by Enoch Bolles which appeared as the cover for the June 1945 Issue of Breezy Stories an envelope pushing, spicy pulp publication of much notoriety. This was most likely painted earlier than the published date noted here, as the magazine was in the practice of re-using existing artwork for its covers and the style and imagery mark this as coming from the 1930s, when Bolles produced his most inventive and important work.
Artist: Enoch Bolles
An original gouache on board created for the May 1962 edition of Male Magazine, illustrating “The Daring GI Raider Who Saved Our New Guinea Stronghold”. A large, finely rendered scene depicting a gun battle, with requisite yet inexplicable scantily attired native babes, as per the norm of the bizarre and lowbrow world of “The Sweats.”
Artist: Mort Künstler
A lurid and menacing presumably commissioned cover painting for an as of yet undetermined spicy pulp publication circa 1930s-40s. By the New York State artist George Lee Trimm, who worked as a cover artist for various Western Fiction Publishing [Red Circle] pulps C. 1935-1942. Trimm created commissioned murals for the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York and is listed in Who’s Who in American Art.
Artist: George Trimm
A strongly rendered, machine age/industrial revolution inspired modernist 1935 oil painting by Thomas Tyrone Comfort, used as the cover for The Los Angeles Herald & Express; Oct.19, 1936. Comfort worked as an art deco-era muralist and illustrator. His work evokes the spirit of the WPA movement, his brilliant career was cut short in 1939 when the artist passed away at the young age of 30.
Artist: Tyrone Comfort
An alternate cover for the October 1957 Issue of Imagination Science Fiction, by Lloyd Rognan, illustrating the interior story “You Can’t Buy Eternity” by Dwight V. Swain. This oil on canvas board original illustration differs from the published cover (which was also painted by Rognan) in several respects, notable the blond in peril on the published cover is envisioned in this rendering as a brunette. Which lends credence to the belief that a pulp cover artists life was not easy and was often subject to publishers whims and guidance. A published complete copy of the magazine is included in the sale.
Artist: Lloyd Rognan
A dark, macabre and cleverly rendered gouache cover illustration by Ed Emshwiller for The January 1956 Ellery Queens’s Mystery Magazine. An expertly rendered rare surviving example of this vanguard artist’s cover mastery and peculiar set of defining talents. A published example of the book is included in the sale and the work is beautifully matted and framed and ready to enjoy.
Artist: Emsh
A whimsical snow scene pastel illustration by Rolf Armstrong which initially appeared as the cover for College Humor in December of 1929. This image was slightly altered by Armstrong and appeared again in 1936 as a Brown & Bigelow Calendar titled “The Call of the North”. The pastel was dedicated to Stan Fenelle another Brown & Bigelow artist by Armstrong and is a new to the market Saint Paul Minnesota estate find. Work is matted and framed in a period art deco era Newcomb-Macklin antique gold carved frame.
Artist: Rolf Armstrong
A photo-realist, kinetic original oil on board by James Bama. This painting, created as a cover for Stag Magzine, illustrates the outlandish true story of Faustin Wirkus, an American soldier who became king of a small island off Haiti in 1906. Faustus was made famous in the 1930s book “The Magic Isle” and was a cult figure thereafter. Interior text reads in part “For five fabulous years, by order of the U.S. Marine Corps, he ruled the mid-ocean island- voodoo, personal harem and all.” Work is unsigned but article credits art by James Bama, magazine is included in sale.
Artist: James Bama
This dramatic and deftly rendered gouache was created as the cover for “Male” February 1966 “Yank Imposter In The Luftwaffe,” and reprinted as an interior 2 page spread in the June 1967 issue of “For Men Only” titled “10 Days To Bring In The Death Head General.” A remarkably tight work that shows Kunstler at his best, using an almost photo-realist technique to create tension, menace and fear.
Artist: Mort Künstler
A flirty, scandalous and new to the market cover illustration by Enoch Bolles, which appeared first as a cover for a 1930’s Young’s Magazine, and again made an appearance on a 1938 cover of Breezy Stories. Enoch Bolles excelled in these curiously proportioned Spicy Pulp, envelope pushing, angular modernist heartbreakers. This is a spectacular work which, like most Bolles’ offerings, is unsigned and is nicely framed and ready to hang.
Artist: Enoch Bolles
