Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
Large, dramatically lit, and alluring, this gouache on illustration board painting by Howard Purcell was created as cover art in 1953 for the digest novel Wild Body by Manning Clay, which told "the intimate story of a modern Salome--who tried to shed the seventh veil." The scene shows Valerie, a pretty albeit tired burlesque dancer between shows, […]
Artist: Howard Purcell
Price: Sold
Promising a gritty look at life for the growing number of Americans who were moving to mobile homes throughout the 1950s, the 1960 Beacon Books title Trailer Camp Woman by Doug Duperrault is a prime example of the kind of fine line between truth and tittilation sleaze that pulp paperback publishers monetized in during the post-war era. […]
Artist: American Artist
Price: SOLD
An original painting by Fred Rodewald which appeared as the cover of the December, 1949 edition of the digest pulp fiction title Exotic Novel Magazine.
Artist: Fred Rodewald
Price: $4,500.00
A subversive and suggestive gouache painting by Isabel Dawson which appeared as the cover of the Stallion Books paperback Trailer Camp Girl, a 1953 offering written by Doug Duperault. The text slugs reads : "They Called Her A Trailer Tramp - A Story of The Carefree Women Who Live - And Love - In Trailer Camps..." Painting has […]
Artist: Isabel Dawson
Price: SOLD
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
Price: $4,800.00
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
Price: SOLD
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
Price: $4,500.00
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
Price: Sold
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
Price: $4,500.00
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
Price: Sold
