Early 20th Century Figurative Paintings

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Center

“We Prefer Cigarets [sic]: Lil’s Hectic Hunt for Holiday Gifts,” original cover for Liberty magazine, published December 17, 1927 With only six days left before Christmas, Lil and h...

F.R. Harper's striking painting captures the spirit of French resilience in the wake of World War I. A resolute young woman stands amidst the ruins of a ravaged village against the b...

Date: 1923 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 28.00" x 32.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Advertisement for Cream of Wheat cereal

Medium: Gouache on Board Dimensions: 22.50" x 16.00" Signature: Signed Lower Left From an Important California Collection.

Medium: Oil on Canvas Sight Size 35.75" x 28.00", Framed 43.50" x 35.50" Signature: Signed Lower Right This work was illustrated on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post...

Original cover for Liberty magazine, published August 4, 1928. Having left her husband Sandy, Lil returns to the Morse family home with her two-month-old baby. Ma Morse worries abou...

Medium: Tempera and Gouache on Paper Dimensions: 10.50" x 14.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right

Original cover for Liberty magazine, published February 2, 1929. Lil and Sandy stop by New York city on their way to Florida. Elegantly dressed and driving a fancy car, the couple a...

“Mother Knows Best: Mrs. Morse Dips Her Cheerful Oar,” original cover for Liberty magazine, published May 12, 1928 Mrs. Morse was very excited to become a grandmother for the first ...

“Honeymooning at Greenville: Lil and Sandy Continue Their Scenic Trip,” original cover for Liberty magazine, published July 23, 1927 Sandy and Lil are on their honeymoon, which after an expensive stay at a mosquito-inhabited resort in Greenville, has not been going particularly well. Their disappointing fishing trip left them with more fly bites than fish bites. The newlyweds were eager to board the train, settle in to their sleeping car, and journey to their next destination. When Sandy attempts to bring Lil the glass of water she requested, the train suddenly jerks and ice water spills on a sleeping gentleman in the next berth. “‘Oh! Oh!’ Lil gasped, a witness to her husband’s social blunder. And she wished she were deaf!” (Liberty magazine, July 23, 1927, p. 45) “For the Love o’ Lil: The Picture Story of an American Family” In 1926, under his long-term contract to produce a cover per week for Liberty magazine, Leslie Thrasher introduced a signature cast of characters that appeared each week, telling a serialized story through his illustrations. Liberty touted its new cover serial as “something no magazine has ever done before…Heretofore, all magazine cover...

Original cover for Liberty magazine, published April 13, 1929. The opera is in town for one night only, making it the social event of the season. Sandy and Lil sit in their box seats, gazing at the less elite audience members in the orchestra and haughtily critiquing the wardrobe choices of other wealthy socialites. The couple excitedly watches as the Opera begins, and eagerly await the gathering in their home after the performance, to which they have invited the star, Paltrianni. Upon his arrival at the Jenkins’ home, Paltrianni comments on how extravagantly the couple lives. However, much to Lil’s horror, there was no lavish banquet awaiting them, for the butler Meadows was found drunkenly passed out on a chair next to the empty dining room. (Liberty magazine, April 13, 1929, p. 68) “For the Love o’ Lil: The Picture Story of an American Family” In 1926, under his long-term contract to produce a cover per week for Liberty magazine, Leslie Thrasher introduced a signature cast of characters that appeared each week, telling a serialized story through his illustrations. Liberty touted its new cover serial as “something no magazine has ever done before…Heretofore, all magazine covers have been disconnected pictures.” To help readers follow the plot from week to week, a short story summary was printed in each issue. (Liberty magazine, June 19, 1926, pp. 69-70). “For the Love o’ Lil” centers around the lives of Lil Morse and Sandy Jenkins and includes recurring characters from their extended family and social circles. The serial follows the couples’ adventures through courtship, the ups and downs of married life, the antics of their offspring with the neighborhood children, and the complex dynamics of relationships with in-laws. The goal was to show a typical modern American family whose eccentricities and foibles would attract readers each week. Thrasher used himself as the model for Lil’s father, Robert E. Lee Morse. Liberty further engaged readers by running contests for best titles, and later, for suggested storylines. The model proved successful and “For the Love o’ Lil” became a popular hallmark of the publication for many years, resulting in a 1930 film adaptation starring the flapper Sally Starr. Leslie Thrasher Leslie Thrasher first began contributing covers to Liberty in 1924, and in 1926 he was offered a contract to create a cover per week at the rate of $1,000 per week. Going against the advice of his friend Norman Rockwell, Thrasher accepted the contract, agreeing to complete a weekly cover for six years - an immensely challenging endeavor requiring that both new ideas and new artwork be produced at an extremely rapid pace. The continuing storyline of the cover serial “For the Love o’ Lil” helped Thrasher keep up with the constant demand for new images. Due to declining circulation, Liberty terminated Thrasher’s contract in 1932. A few years later in 1936, Thrasher died from pneumonia caused by smoke inhalation from a fire in his home, which also destroyed much of his original artwork. An incredibly prolific artist, Thrasher had created more than 360 covers in his lifetime for various publications, including 23 covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Leslie Thrasher was born in Piedmont, West Virginia. He studied art at the Philadelphia Academy and at the age of 16, won a scholarship that allowed him to study in Paris. Upon his return to the United States, Thrasher studied with Howard Pyle in Wilmington, Delaware and briefly worked as a portrait painter before moving to New York City to begin his commercial career producing illustration for magazines and advertising agencies. Thrasher also served in World War I, where he was assigned work as a camouflage painter. Date: 1929 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 20.00" x 16.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Liberty Magazine Cover, 4/13/29 "Opera Night"

“The Doctor Calls: Spending the Morning with Lil’s Oldest Friend,” original cover for Liberty magazine, published May 5, 1928 Dr. Howard, the Morse family doctor, is caught in traff...

Medium: Oil on Board Sight Size 28.00" x 24.00", Framed 34" x 30" Signature: Signed Upper Left Cover Illustration for the February 16, 1924 issue of The Country Gentleman...

Date: 1920 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 24.00" x 16.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Cream of Wheat advertisement for the Saturday Evening Post, June 5, 1920. In 1980, Dave Stivers, a new archivist for the Nabisco Brands Company was taking a tour of the Cream of Wheat plant in Minneapolis, Minnesota when he encountered a large room with metal lockers that had not been opened for over 30 years. These lockers contained a treasure trove of 1600 advertising paintings...

Medium: Oil on Board 22.00" Oval, Framed 31.00" Oval Signature: Signed Lower Right Sears Magazine Cover, Fall- Winter 1927/1928

Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Left Story illustration for "In The Cathedral" by Achmed Abdullah published in Cosmopolitan, May 1938, pages 24-25. The magazine descri...

She Loves Me ...She Loves Me Not, Liberty Magazine Cover, June 19, 1926 Original cover for Liberty magazine, published June 19, 1926. Sandy forgot that toda...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 27.00" x 20.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Illustration: Group of people in the old South. "It's the Thieving Federats Again" Illustration;

Date: 1917 Medium: Oil on Board Dimensions: 32.00" x 21.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Story illustration: Group of people gathered around seated old woman. “Isn't it quite as i...

Date: 1926 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 20.00" x 16.00" Signature: Signed Lower Left Liberty magazine cover, November 6, 1926

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right "A Successful Man," by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, from book Poems of Optimism (1919).

Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Left

Approximate Date: 1923 Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Size: 38.00" x 25.00" Men depicted in a winter scene, used as a book cover ...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left Cover Illustration: March 5, 1921 of The Country Gentleman.

Study for the February 1929 issue of People’s Popular Monthly magazine. A woman and two men in historical costume with a heart behind them. Medium: Gouache on Board with collaged l...

Medium: Ink and Gouache Signature: Signed Lower Right Probably a magazine cover for a Munsey’s pulp, ca. 1905.

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Unsigned Date: Circa 1922 Original Cream Of Wheat illustration. Oil on canvas. Ex: Kraft Food Collection / Morton Grove Ill.. Reference: "The Nabisc...

Date: 1927 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 27.00" x 18.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right "We Amused Ourselves for an Hour or More, Darting in and out Among the Crowd and Setting off our Crackers", The Story of a Bad Boy...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left October 1929 American Boy Magazine Cover Magazine Included

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 36.00" x 26.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Elderly printer firing apprentice after he dropped a drawer of type.

Signature: Signed Lower Right: F X Leyendecker Medium: Oil on Board Sight Size 18.75" x 24.75;" Framed 33.75" x 39.75" RELATED LITERATURE: B. King, "T...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Unsigned

Signature: Signed Lower Right Medium: Oil on Canvas Cover for Life Magazine, January 1, 1914 Caption: "Which Bird?"

Signature: Signed Lower Right Original advertisement for Cream of Wheat, published 1925. The image features Dan Beard sitting at a campfire talking to Boy Scouts. The full captio...

Story illustration for “The Black Hunter” by James Oliver Curwood for Cosmopolitan, published November 1925, pages 84-85. Set against the backdrop of 1754 Quebec, amidst the escalat...

Original cover for Liberty magazine, published November 2, 1929. Sandy hides behind the newspaper at the breakfast table as Lil suddenly asks “Who is Marianthe? You talked about her...

Date: 1915 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 40.00" x 28.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Rip Van Winkle, Cream of Wheat advertisement, 1915 This p...

Medium: Watercolor and Gouache Dimensions: 13.50" x 10.50" Signature: Signed Lower Left

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 29.00" x 20.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 20.00" x 27.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 28.00" x 21.00" Signature: Signed Lower Left An image of two ladies.

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 28.00" x 24.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right

Date: 1924 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 26.60" x 21.50" Signature: Signed and Dated The Country Gentleman, October 11, 1924, cover illustra...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 16.00" x 24.00" Signature: Unsigned

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 22.00" x 9.75" Signature: Signed Lower Right

Date: 1921 Medium: Gouache on Board Dimensions: 20.75" x 17.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right (Monogram)

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 28.00" x 28.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 30.00" x 40.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 28.25" x 18.25" Signature: Signed Lower Left

Medium: Oil Painting Signature: Signed Lower Right Lady

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right The Boys of Today Are the Men of Tomorrow, Cream of Wheat Advertisement, 1926.

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Unsigned R. Norton, The Mediator, New York, 1913, cover illustration. Douglas Duer (1887-1964) was a member of New York's Society of Illustrators w...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed and Dated Lower Right

Medium: Gouache Signature: Signed Lower Left

Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right "The Most Eminent Baby Specialists..." Cream of Wheat Advertisement

The Elks Magazine Cover, Feb 1926 Signed Lower Right

Date: 1908 Medium: Gouache on Three Illustration Boards Dimensions: 2.50" x 32.50"; Two at 12.50" x 9.75", Overall 12" x 53" Signature: Each Signed or Monogrammed Large group of cup...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 30.00" x 20.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right

“Crashing the Gate: Sandy Paves the Way to His Big Business Scoop,” original cover for Liberty magazine, published March 10, 1928 Sandy confidently struts down the street, dapperly ...