The Grand Age of American Illustration was at its peak after the turn of the century in the early 1900s. The printing industry with its technological advancements and the American Industrial Revolution made for a multicolor offset printing process that was fast, affordable, and flat-out glorious in print. Cover artists were much in demand, earned lavish salaries and often became household names and stars in their own right. The distinction between fine art and "art for commerce" was blurred and artists like Alphonse Mucha, Maxfield Parrish, Norman Rockwell, and countless others excelled in both realms. These often lost original paintings are available exclusively via Grapefruit Moon Gallery.

Window Dressing Theodore Haupt	La Coquette Alberto Vargas

A brilliantly rendered pen & ink illustration by the legendary New York City illustrator Al Hirschfeld. In this tightly rendered "two worlds collide" generation gap sight gag, the new guard Andy Warhol is greeted by the old guard Bob Hope. The scene offers a humorous look at the cultural growing pains that were a part of American life during the turbulent 1970s. Work is framed and matted behind glass in a simple 1970s - 80's black lacquered wood frame.

A Christmas themed dazzling original calendar illustration by Bill Layne for The Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company. This was for a pharmacy drugstore account and appeared on a Christmas Holiday Calendar in 1953. Layne worked for Walt Disney in the art department creating story board graphics and design embellishments which is apparent here in his twinkling Tinkerbell fairy goddess depiction.

This rare original painting by Henry Clive graced the cover of the June 18, 1933 edition of William Randolph Hearst's The American Weekly. Clive was often called upon to create serialized images of pin up enchantresses who embodied a theme. This is one of those works - from a series of images which depicted a variety of maidens about to be struck by cupid's arrow.

This rare original painting by Henry Clive graced the cover of the October 13, 1946 edition of William Randolph Hearst's The American Weekly. Clive often played with serialized themes in his work for the magazine, and this Egyptian inspired image was from a series entitled "Pin-up Girls of History." Pictured as Cleopatra is the lovely Hollywood film star Dorothy Lamour, whose impossibly good looks and exotic features draw comparison to the legendary queen of the Nile, though the actress never portrayed her in film.

An early and exceptional motor car gouache on illustration board painting by noted New York artist and illustrator Malcolm A. Strauss who specialized in genre works of early motor carriages creating posters for The Automobile Club of America showing early car race scenes from the infancy of The Motor-Age. This dates from the early 1900s and has the added attraction of a lovely Edwardian lass daringly and confidently navigating the then brand new domain of the horse-less carriage/tin-lizzie motorcar.

An original signed painting by the prolific illustrator Henry Clive. This was likely commissioned for the cover of The American Weekly, a William Randolph Hearst publication. Clive spent three decades creating several hundred covers for this weekly publication, although the original paintings rarely come on the market. Pictured is pin-up model and Paramount Film Star Mona Freeman who made a nice career for herself typically cast as the perky good girl supporting actress.

This Pierrot-inspired flapper girl pastel was created by Henry Clive as cover art for a Hollywood Comedy Club burlesque program. With a mischevious glint in her eye, the smiling blond embodies the devil-may-care ethos of the early jazz age. After moving to California to work in silent films, Clive was very much a part of the Hollywood social scene. This original pastel is an early example of his fraternal pursuits, and includes a faint dedication to a fellow member of the Hollywood Comedy Club for which this was created.

A rare and whimsically delightful surviving cover painting from the golden age of illustration by Theodore Haupt, which appeared on the cover of The New Yorker; January 28, 1928. This painting captures the fun and folly of New York City in a severe art deco zig-zag aesthetic. During the busy wintertime wonderland shopping crush, a window dresser is shown feverishly attiring a nude store mannequin as snow covered throngs watch in delight. Haupt illustrated forty four covers for The New Yorker between 1927 and 1933.

A macabre and dark highly inventive large format gouache illustration painting by Harrison Fisher used as a full color book plate in the 1907 edition of "A Dream of Fair Women" by Lord Alfred Tennyson. In this scene our maiden fair has just completed lent and prepares to give the devil his due and go out ballroom dancing in revealing for the day, corseted attire. This is a classic Harrison Fisher painting and a wonderful and historically impactful example of late Victorian period imagery where traditional customs are seen colliding with a less restrained, more promiscuous Edwardian vision of femininity.

An inventive and forward thinking "progress through industry" original gouache illustration painting by Theodore Haupt. This was commissioned by The New Yorker magazine and used as their May 2, 1931 cover. The imagery attempts to put a positive spin on the Great Depression using modernism, industry and the technological advances of the Machine Age as rallying points in this bustling New York City cityscape. Haupt illustrated forty four covers for The New Yorker between 1927 and 1933.