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1920s Paintings

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Period: 1920s
Defender of Her Homeland, World War I Calendar Illustration
By F.R. Harper
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Soapbox Wreck, The Saturday Evening Post Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Fare Thee Well! Liberty Magazine Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Winter Vacation, Liberty Magazine Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mother Knows Best, Liberty Magazine Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
“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 ...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Study for Saturday Evening Post Cover, Peeling Apples
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: Nov 28, 1925 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 14.00" x 11.20" Signature: Unsigned Study for Saturday Evening Post Cover, November 28, 1925
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Honeymooning at Greenville, Liberty Magazine Cover, 1923
Located in Fort Washington, PA
“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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Opera Night, Liberty Magazine Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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"
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

From a Balcony
Located in Miami, FL
Exhibited: New York Society of Artist Sid Deutsch Owings-Dewey Fine Art It's Skyscraper City: 1918. The artist depicts a simultaneous interior and exerterior view.. Based on Cole...
Category

American Modern 1920s Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Doctor Calls, Liberty Magazine Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
“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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Country Gentleman Magazine Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"Little Indian Sioux" Cream of Wheat Ad, Saturday Evening Post, 1920
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Shopping the Catalog, Sears, Roebuck Catalog Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Board 22.00" Oval, Framed 31.00" Oval Signature: Signed Lower Right Sears Magazine Cover, Fall- Winter 1927/1928
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"Ringmaster"
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Story illustration, image of man on couch, woman in chair writing Charles Edward Chambers was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, studied at the Chicago Art Institute, and later the Art Students League in New York with George Bridgman. His illustrations were extremely skillful, marked by subtlety of value and color. He early learned to adapt his method of painting for the best possible reproduction, and to insure fidelity of printing, he often followed the assignments through to the hands of the engraver who made the plates. Chambers divided his time almost equally between editorial and advertising assignments. Among his advertising commissions was an outstanding series of portraits of musicians for Steinway & Sons. His distinctive illustrations for billboards, notably for Chesterfield and Palmolive Soap...
Category

Other Art Style 1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

She Loves Me...She Loves Me Not, Liberty Magazine Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Two is Company, Liberty Magazine Cover, November 6, 1926
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1926 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 20.00" x 16.00" Signature: Signed Lower Left Liberty magazine cover, November 6, 1926
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Children of the Forest - Calendar Illustration
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Calendar Illustration: Image of Indian mother and children. Gerlach Barklow Calendar Company Adelaide Hiebel was born in New Hope Wisconsin in 1886. She studied at the Art Institute in Chicago. In 1919 Hiebel was an art instructor when her friend and mentor Zula Kenyon...
Category

Other Art Style 1920s Paintings

Materials

Board, Pastel

Golden Boys Book Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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 ...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Snoring Brother
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left Cover Illustration: March 5, 1921 of The Country Gentleman.
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

How do you do?
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Board

"Ideal Food for Young and Old, " Cream of Wheat Advertisement, 1922-1923
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

American Boy Magazine Cover, October 1929
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left October 1929 American Boy Magazine Cover Magazine Included
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Boy Reading
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Unsigned
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

He sat opposite the distorted figure
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signature: Signed and Dated Lower Left Vignette for an unknown publication, with Scientific Engraving Company labels on verso
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Board

The Black Hunter
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signature: Signed Lower Right "I claim this place of honor...” Story illustration: “The Black Hunter”, author: James O. Curwood, Cosmopolitan, November 1925;
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Dan Beard Gives Some Good Advice
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Story of Rembrandt
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed Lower Right illustration for Cosmopolitan magazine, published May 1928, with inventory stamp and notes on verso.
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Pastel, Board

"I'd Love To, " Liberty Magazine Cover, 1929
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Something Went Bump in the Night
By William Prince
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1924 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 26.60" x 21.50" Signature: Signed and Dated The Country Gentleman, October 11, 1924, cover illustra...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Admiring the View
By Lawrence Jepson
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1921 Medium: Gouache on Board Dimensions: 20.75" x 17.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right (Monogram)
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Board

Woman with Sheep
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Image of two women with sheep. Signed and Dated Lower Right Making his first illustrations for the "Saturday Evening Post" before he was age 20, Edmund Ward had a successful care...
Category

Other Art Style 1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Fresh Buns - Baking Advertisement
Located in Fort Washington, PA
This illustration shows a grandmother and daughter baking together. Baking Advertisement An early 20th-century illustrator working in New York City, Lawrence L Wilbur should not b...
Category

Other Art Style 1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Scaring Mother
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed lower left. Walter Beach Humphrey specialized in painting magazine covers and he eventually did work for almost all of them, beginning with small-circulation p...
Category

Other Art Style 1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Road to Nowhere
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Walter Beach Humphrey specialized in painting magazine covers and he eventually did work for almost all of them, beginning with small-circulation publications such as The Zenith, ...
Category

Other Art Style 1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Young Woman Tries on Gown
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed Lower Right by Artist Magazine story illustration: “Mr. and Mrs. Fixit”, author: Ring Lardner, Liberty Magazine; publisher: (Liberty Weekly, Inc.), Vol. 2, no 1, May 9, 1925.
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Watercolor

At the Masquerade, Chesterfield Cigarette advertisement
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed and dated lower left by Artist
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Oil

Three Men Talking
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed Lower Left by Artist. Literary Digest Cover, October 3, 1920. Written on back 'Property of Funk & Wagnalls'. Provenance: From a Wantagh NY Estate
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Arrival
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Advertisement for the Interwoven Stocking Company, New Brunswick, NJ.
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Stagecoach at the Holly Inn
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Advertisement for the Interwoven Stocking Company, New Brunswick, NJ.
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Gouache

The Boys of Today Are the Men of Tomorrow, Cream of Wheat Advertisement
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right The Boys of Today Are the Men of Tomorrow, Cream of Wheat Advertisement, 1926.
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Cream of Wheat Advertisement
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right "The Most Eminent Baby Specialists..." Cream of Wheat Advertisement
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

In the Hands of Time, The Elks Magazine Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
The Elks Magazine Cover, Feb 1926 Signed Lower Right
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Crashing the Gate, " Liberty Magazine Cover, 1928
Located in Fort Washington, PA
“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 ...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

(Untitled)
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1928 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 16.00" x 22.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Interior setting with people standing around.
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'East, West, Hame's Best' Liberty Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Original cover for Liberty magazine, published March 16, 1929. Lil and Sandy return home from their vacation, finding the late winter weather dreary after experiencing the warm suns...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

And Why Not?, Liberty Magazine Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
“And Why Not?: Lil and Sandy Warm Up Their Imagination,” original cover for Liberty magazine, published April 7, 1928 As Mr. and Mrs. Morse leave for a date night at the local lodge, Lil and Sandy spend an evening in front of the fireplace at the Morse home. Sandy turns on sentimental music, gathers marshmallows and a toasting fork, and lights the logs in his father-in-law’s fireplace. The fireplace’s golden glow becomes a picture frame for the couple’s dreams of their future son. Sandy excitedly imagines their baby going to college and being the “head of every class, scholarships galore, and captain of basketball, hockey, crew, and football.” Little Sandy is also imagined to be a brave soldier and even serve as future president of the United States. “Dreams of their son…red embers on the hearth…Their fireplace fantasy!” (Liberty magazine, April 7, 1928) “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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Setting off our crackers"
By Edward John Prittie
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Trail's End, Book Illustration
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1921 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 30.00" x 21.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right This illustration was published in Trail's End by George W. Ogden, Grosset & Dunlap, ...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Stop and Go, The Elks Magazine Cover
By Samuel Joseph Brown
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Stop and Go, The Elks Magazine Cover A police officer is pointing and talking/reprimanding the woman driving. She is giving a confused look at the off...
Category

Other Art Style 1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Stealing The Funnies, Collier's Magazine Cover, 1923
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Sight Size 29.00" x 21.00", Framed 35.00" x 27.00" Collier's Magazine Cover, October 20, 1923
Category

Other Art Style 1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Les Trois Graces
Located in Eversholt, Bedfordshire
JEAN SOUVERBIE (1891-1981) LES TROIS GRACES Signed lower right PROVENANCE Private Collection Paisnel Gallery, London Private Collection Souverbie painted compositions of figures, ...
Category

Cubist 1920s Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Piano Recital - Impressionist Figurative Interior Oil by Frederick Frieseke
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed and dated oil on canvas figure in interior painting by American impressionist painter Frederick Carl Frieseke. The piece depicts a young girl in a pink dress seated at a piano...
Category

American Impressionist 1920s Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

The Christmas Ship in Old New York
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Sight Size 53.00" x 136.00", Framed 66.00" x 149.00" Signature: Signed Lower Left Interwoven Stocking Company Advertisement Reproduced on gift boxes, Advertisement appeared in Saturday Evening Post, December 8, 1928, pg.2 The long lost NC Wyeth painting...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Maxwell House Coffee Illustration
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed by Artist Lower Right Maxwell House Coffee Illustration Few artists have ever pulled on our nation's heartstrings, particularly in reference to family and generations, as adeptly as Norman Rockwell. From his earliest advertisements to his patriotic World War II subjects, Rockwell's virtuoso was in his ability to capture the essence of American culture and a view of a more innocent time in our country's history. Rockwell states: "I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. And perhaps, therefore, this is one function of the illustrator. He can show what has become so familiar that it is no longer noticed. The illustrator thus becomes a chronicler of his time." (as quoted in Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, p. xii) Recognizing the need for reminiscence from young and old alike, Rockwell effectively captures a timeless scene: Here, two old friends gingerly and jovially play a game of chess, sipping coffee as they wait for their furry friend to make the next move. The work is executed in Rockwell's signature descriptive style of finely drawn, clear realism with a wealth of fascinating detail. In discussing his career, Rockwell commented, "I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. And perhaps, therefore, this is one function of the illustrator. He can show what has become so familiar that it is no longer noticed. The illustrator thus becomes a chronicler of his time." (as quoted in Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, p. xii) Rockwell seemingly utilizes one of his favorite models in the present work-James K. Van Brunt. The artist recalled his initial meeting with Van Brunt in 1924 in New Rochelle, New York: "I remember it was June and it was terribly hot. I was working in my underwear and not getting along too well because my brushes were slippery with perspiration. Suddenly the downstairs door banged and I heard someone come up the stairs treading on each step with a loud, deliberate thump...A tiny old man with a knobby nose, an immense, drooping mustache, and round, heavy-lidded eyes stamped bellicosely into the studio. 'James K. Van Brunt, sir,' he said, saluting me and bowing all at once. 'Five feet two inches tall, sir. The exact height of Napoleon Bonaparte!' And he pushed out his thin little chest, which was encased in a fawn colored vest. 'I have fought the Confederate Army at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and in the Wilderness,' he said. 'I have battled the nations of the Sioux under Dull Knife, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. I have fought the Spaniards, sir, in Cuba.' And he rapped his cane on the floor and looked at me very belligerently. Then, having ascertained that I wasn't going to contradict him, he took off his gloves and his wide brimmed hat, laid them on a chair, and patted his mustache. 'This mustache, sir,' he said, 'is eight full inches wide from tip to tip. The ladies, sir, make much of it.' And he winked at me and walked over to my mirror to stare at his mustache." (My Adventures as an Illustrator, New York, 1994, p. 206) Van Brunt was a consummate professional as a model, carefully practicing his poses in the mirror in advance of a session and, at times, inspiring the idea for the cover illustration. Rockwell stated that he used to suggest a cover almost every time they saw one another and referred to the day when Van Brunt first showed up at his studio as "one of the luckiest days of my life." (My Adventures as an Illustrator, p. 206) James K. Van Brunt appeared in ten Post covers by Rockwell, as well as countless other paintings used as advertisements, such as the present work. Given Van Brunt's distinctive visage with his mustache, the editor at the Post, George Horace Lorimer, complained. "Rockwell recalled, 'Mr. Lorimer said to me, 'I think you're using that man too much. Everybody's beginning to notice it. Maybe you'd better stop for a while. That mustache of his is too identifiable.' Rockwell informed Van Brunt of the problem, 'If you take off your mustache I can use you again...Otherwise I just can't.' Two weeks later Van...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Oil

Couple's 25th Wedding Anniversary
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed by artist lower left corner. Literature: Laurie Norton Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1986, vol. I, no. A242, p. 362, illustrated Notes: Painted circa 1925. A letter from Norman Rockwell to the Graham family discussing the painting accompanies the lot.In April 1921, Dodge Brothers entered into a burgeoning partnership with the Graham Brothers, an Evansville, Indiana family-run, truck manufacturing business, headed by three siblings, Joseph B., Robert C. and Ray A. Graham. By 1920, their company was building complete truck and bus bodies with various engines which, in April 1921 caught the attention of Dodge’s president, Frederick J. Haynes. Haynes saw the Graham product as a way to get Dodge into the heavy truck business without compromising their own car production. The two companies agreed to have Graham Brothers build trucks solely with Dodge engines and drive trains, and sell them exclusively through Dodge dealerships nationwide. The partnership resulted in a new name, Graham Brothers, Inc., a company relocation to Detroit, and the opening of numerous factories nationwide over the next several years. In 1925, Joseph, Robert and Ray were appointed Dodge directors and executives, and were among the largest stockholders of the company. By 1926, Graham Brothers, Inc. was the largest exclusive truck manufacturer in the world. In later years, the brothers went on to build the Graham-Paige Motors Corporation, further expanding their success in the automotive business.Around 1925, the current painting was commissioned from Normal Rockwell...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Oil

A Dark Futurist
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Paper Laid on Panel Signature: Signed Lower Right Initialed lower right: M.P. Signed on the reverse: Maxfield Parish Initialed and numbered by the artist's son on the reverse: M.P. Jr. / No. 68. When Maxfield Parrish painted the comical A Dark Futurist in 1923 for Life magazine, he had already established himself as America's leading book and magazine illustrator. His early artwork for children's classics like L. Frank Baum's Mother Goose in Prose (1897), Kenneth Grahame's Dream Days (1900), and Eugene Field's Poems of Childhood (1904) popularized his signature atmospheric settings, cobalt blue-and-gold palette, and dreamy figures inhabiting magical worlds. Likewise, his covers for Century, Collier's, Harper's Bazaar, Ladies' Home Journal, Life, and Scribner's Magazine were highly desirous and instantly recognizable, often more stylized than his book imagery; no other journal illustrator could match Parrish's winning combination of precise draftsmanship, strong graphic design, and amusing characters. According to David Apatoff, Art Critic, The Saturday Evening Post, "Parrish abandoned his customary heavy details and rainbow colors to present a bolder, more high-contrast design silhouetted against a stark white background - a treatment more suitable for a modern magazine cover vying for attention on a crowded newsstand. A Dark Futurist is silhouetted against a white field with no background or details to prop it up. The composition is carefully centered with only differences in the hands and the artist's necktie to break the symmetry. These are crucial to the success of the design. Just as important as Parrish's clean, high-contrast style in these pictures is the refreshing humor and sophistication in content, which is usually absent from Parrish's fairytale paintings. A Dark Futurist shows us a different kind of modernism. Parrish steps out of his timeless fairy tales to tweak one of the most incendiary artistic movements of his day. Futurism, with its militant manifesto and its outspoken artists, was all the rage in Europe. Parrish pokes them, showing a "dark" and anxious futurist with pursed lips and thick glasses, poised to paint but not exactly sure of, or optimistic about, what the 'future' will hold. This suggests that Parrish was alert to, and had opinions about, current events of the day - something one might never guess from his usual subject matter." In his early Collier's illustrations, Parrish also developed memorable themes that he would return to in his 1920s magazine work. One of his most popular characters was the "seer," or man with keen visual powers, most often depicted as an artist, but also appearing as a tourist, scientist, and philosopher. Parrish's seer was recognizable by particular physical attributes: round glasses, indicating his visual and analytical acuity, and an overcoat and/or hat signifying his role as observer of the outside world. A Man of Letters, sold last year at Heritage Auctions, was one of the first Life covers Parrish rolled out for Gibson, and he repeated the character of the artist-seer, emphasizing the comic spin, for two later editions: A Dark Futurist (Life, March 1, 1923) captures a Parrish-like artist in foggy round glasses and a long green coat...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil, Panel

The Knave of Hearts: List of Characters
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Sight Size 20.13" x 16.38", Framed 26.00" x 23.00" Maxfield Parrish’s popularity as an illustrator began with his early work for magazine publishers. An Easter 1895 cover for Harper’s Bazaar, one of the leading publications of the day, was followed by a successful foray into book illustration beginning in 1897 when Parrish completed illustrations for Frank Baum’s Mother Goose in Prose. His unique style and vivid imagination were well suited to illustrating children’s literature and resulted in numerous commissions. The List of Characters is one of 26 paintings, which appeared as an illustration in Louise Saunders' book, The Knave of Hearts. Lawrence S. Cutler and Judy Goffman Cutler write, “The last book Parrish illustrated, The Knave of Hearts (1924), was his masterpiece. When Parrish discovered this children’s play, he proposed an illustrated edition to Scribner’s, to which the publisher enthusiastically agreed …It was written by Louise Saunders, who was the wife of Maxwell Evarts Perkins of Scribner’s, an important editor in the 20th century and discoverer of authors Thomas Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others. The couple were summer residents at Cornish and close friends of the Parrishes” (Maxfield Parrish and the American Imagists, Edison, New Jersey, 2004, p. 172). According to Coy Ludwig, “The artist’s enthusiasm was shared by the publisher, who requested sketches or more precise information upon which to base a cost analysis, as final approval could not be given until the costs were estimated. Parrish prepared an elaborate dummy or mock-up of the proposed publication, complete with watercolor sketches of the illustrations, and sent it to the publisher early in 1921 …The twenty-six paintings for The Knave of Heartswere executed within three years, and the book, a sumptuous production, was published on October 2, 1925… The volume, selling for ten dollars, was packaged in a telescoping box...
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Ask for Hires and Get the Genuine
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Paper Laid to Board Signature: Signed with the Artists Initials M.P Lower Center Coy Ludwig, Maxfield Parrish, New York, 1973, plate 35, p. 133, illustrated in color
Category

1920s Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil, Board

Grand Still Life
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Documentation Signed Origin Belgium Period 1920-1949 Materials oil on canvas Dimensions W. 25.5 in; H. 31 in; W. 64.77 cm; H. 78.74 cm; Condition Good. Excellent condion Creation Date C. 1930 Description An exquisite still life with masterful use of color. Carved frame measures 38.5 x 33 inches. Fernand Toussaint...
Category

Impressionist 1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Place de la République, 20th Century Oil on Canvas by Edouard Léon Cortès
Located in Madrid, ES
EDOUARD LÉON CORTÈS French 1882 - 1969 PLACE DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE signed "EDOUARD CORTÈS." (lower right) oil on canvas 19-3/4 x 25-1/2 inches (50 x 64.5 cm.) framed: 27-3/4 x 33-3/8 inches (70 x 84.5 cm.) PROVENANCE Private Collector, Madrid An elegant night view of the Parisian Republic Square, with amazing light effects that catch us. This work executed based on brushstrokes of long and safe strokes that make the forms vibrate with vivid color. Parisian nightlife is trapped in this corner of Paris. The monumental sculpture that symbolizes freedom and that presides over the square serves as a reference behind the tram between a light chiaroscuro. Meanwhile, the effervecent and lively life of the cafes that surround it vibrate strongly with its bright lights. Èdouard León Cortés (1882–1969) was a French post-impressionist artist of French and Spanish ancestry. He is known as "Le Poète Parisien de la Peinture" or "the Parisian Poet of Painting" because of his diverse Paris cityscapes in a variety of weather and night settings. Cortes was born on August 6, 1882, in Lagny-sur-Marne, about twenty miles east of Paris. His father, Antonio Cortés, had been a painter for the Spanish Royal...
Category

Post-Impressionist 1920s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

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