Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
Willy Müller-Gera (1887-1981) was a German artist and illustrator whose work is visible in museums across Europe. Müller-Gera is known for his etchings and landscapes of the pastoral German countryside as well as apocalyptic renderings such as this work. Titled Faun this is an unusual finely detailed artwork in a modernist, art deco, avant-garde aesthetic. Nicely framed in a period art deco antique frame and ready to enjoy.
Artist: Willy Müller-Gera
The climactic beach scene in the 1953 film From Here to Eternity is interpreted in this artwork for the men’s magazine market, and given a lurid slant well suited for the sweats. This well rendered unsigned gouache on illustration board painting comes from a collection of published works from the early years of Saga Magazine, a lurid title that thrived in the post-war pulp men’s market of the early 1950s. The work is attributed to Edward Valigursky who worked for Saga during the period.
Artist: Ed Valigursky (attributed)
A large, Victorian era, original watercolor on illustration board by frequent LIFE Magazine illustrator, Charles Howard Johnson. This was most likely an interior, 2-page, color plate illustration for Truth Magazine. A stylized Belle Epoque, old world gondola scene. Nicely framed in a large, period, gesso wood frame.
Artist: Charles Howard Johnson
A dark and deeply erotic Salmagundi Club Exhibited large oil on canvas by R.K. Ryland titled “Woodland Melodies.” Ryland was a celebrated New York based illustrator and fine artist who worked extensively creating modernist murals and posters for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. A work by Ryland illustrating that fair is on permanent display at the Wolfsonian Museum of Modernism in Miami. A large, defining example of the woodland nymph imagery that captivated 1920’s artists and illustrators.
Artist: Robert Ryland
This set of two pendant oil paintings is unusual within Wenzell’s oervre, both for its classical mythological subject and explicit eroticism. These two paintings were clearly conceived as a matched set; they present a “before” and “after” narrative. The first panel was published as a vignette in the March 26th, 1910 issue of Collier’s magazine but we don’t believe that the second work was created for publication. This pair was displayed in the Wenzell’s 1967 Maxwell Gallery (San Francisco) exhibition, “The Age of Elegance.” An illustrated program is included with sale.
Artist: Albert Wenzell
We are delighted to offer an extraordinary, large, masterfully executed and cleverly conceived oil on stretched canvas by Charles Bosseron Chambers. This is a dark take on the nude forest nymph theme which captivated the likes of Arthur Spear, Maxfield Parrish and Robert Atkinson Fox. In this work the nude nymph is visted by elfin eared musical satyrs which represent, to the deeply religious Chambers, the underworld of sensuality. This allegorical work is haunting and evocotive, the nude is rendered with great care and a mastery of the female form which is second to none. This is among the finest works we have offered; the painterly technique and technical expertise of C. Bosseron Chambers is masterfully harnessed in this work. Framed in a museum quality art deco aesthetic gallery frame. A haunting epic work that examines the allure of temptation and the temptation of allure.
Artist: Charles Bosseron Chambers
