Sexy Blond Falls from Window - Noir Pulp Art
By Harry Barton
Located in Miami, FL
The main point about the Harry Barton painting is not that it graced the cover of a campy Noir Pulp paperback, but that its composition is acutely complex and masterfully designed.
Gouache, Illustration Board
Hell Cat
By Harry Barton
Located in Minneapolis, MN
A signed gouache on illustration board painting by Harry Barton, created as the cover for Dorine Clark's 1959 novel Hell Cat.
Gouache, Illustration Board
Mambo to Murder
By Harry Barton
Located in Minneapolis, MN
This oil on illustration board painting by Harry Barton was created as cover art for the 1955 paperback Mambo To Murder, one half of the double sided Ace Double Novel D-109.
Illustration Board, Oil
Tender Hearted Harlot
By Harry Barton
Located in Minneapolis, MN
Harry Barton painted this steamy gouache illustration for use as the cover of 1952's Tender Hearted Harlot by Val Munroe.
Gouache
Probable Paperback Cover
By Robert Berran
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Acrylic on Illustration Board Signature: Unsigned
Acrylic, Illustration Board
Marilyn Monroe - Fetish
By Ron Lesser
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Board Dimensions: 30.00" x 40.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right
Oil, Board
High Priced Party Girl
By Bernard Safran
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvasboard Signature: Signed Lower Left This illustration was published as the paperback cover of High Priced Party Girl by Bart Frame, A Croydon Book, No. 33, 1953.
Canvas, Oil, Board
$19,000
H 21.5 in W 28 in
Mid-Century Cosmopolitan Illustration Surreal Family Narrative
By Jon Whitcomb
Located in Miami, FL
A complex story is portrayed in one picture. American Glamour Illustrator Jon Whitcomb interprets a Mid-Century Cosmopolitan story about a beautiful blond actress who, on set, appea...
Gouache, Illustration Board
$6,000
H 21 in W 13 in
Crime Romance Noir Pulp Fiction Cover Illustration for If Hate Could Kill
By Raymond Johnson
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Raymond Johnson (1915-1997). Cover Illustration for If Hate Could Kill, 1960. Gouache on illustration board, image measures 13 x 21 inches. Illustration board measuring 19.5 x 26 ...
Gouache, Illustration Board
$15,000
H 11.5 in W 17.25 in
Night Attack. Men's Magazine: Action, Sex and Violence
By Mort Künstler
Located in Miami, FL
Sex and violence take center stage in this mid-1960s men's magazine interior story illustration. This action-packed narrative of a G.I. close-up gun battle incorporates five peak m...
Gouache, Illustration Board
$6,900
H 32 in W 29 in
"The Girl's Taunt Stung" Magazine Story Illustration for Good Housekeeping
By E.M. Jackson
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Story illustration for "Hidden Ways" by Frederic F. van de Water published in Good Housekeeping, October 1935, pages 42-43. The full caption reads: "Allegra's face was white as she ...
Oil, Canvas
$12,500
H 16.25 in W 20.75 in
Soldier Shooting Gun with Bikini Girls, Mid-Century Mens Magazine War
By Mort Künstler
Located in Miami, FL
The artist tells a whole action-packed story in one picture. A handsome young soldier shoots his pistol at a passing bomb-dropping airplane. The close call splashes water on him and ...
Gouache, Board, Pencil
Man on Floor Illustration
By Edwin Georgi
Located in Miami, FL
Man on Floor Illustration ca. 1950–1959 Paintings, gouache on board 8 x 26.25 in. (20.3 x 66.7 cm.) Modern Magazine Story Illustration Heritage, Morris Weiss CollectionSunning work w...
Gouache
$7,000
H 15 in W 13.75 in
Love at War, Lovers in a troubled moment . Handsome men and beautiful women.
By Jon Whitcomb
Located in Miami, FL
Jon Whitcomb was know for is dipictions of Handsome men and glamous women. Most likely for a major newsstand magazine like. Cosmopolitan, McCall's and Playboy, Collier's Weekly, Goo...
Mixed Media, Gouache
$7,500
H 33.75 in W 24 in
Young and Fair, Romantic Magazine Story Illustration, Good Housekeeping, 1932
By E.M. Jackson
Located in Fort Washington, PA
"Jessica laid her face against Richie's shoulder; she felt his arm tighten about her. Perhaps it was a long time they stood so. She didn't know, but she heard him say, 'Do you mean y...
Oil, Canvas
'Another Woman' Story Illustration
By Andrew Loomis
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Ladies Home Journal, December 1939, pg 31. Illustration for Mary Hastings Bradley "Another Woman" "The kiss had been less casual...
Canvas, Oil
$6,000
H 18 in W 15 in
Pulp Fiction Cover Illustration for Lady Chatterley's Daughter
By Raymond Johnson
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Raymond Johnson (1915-1997). Cover Illustration for Lady Chatterley's Daughter by Patricia Robins, 1962. Gouache on illustration board, image measures 15 x 18 inches. Beautiful an...
Gouache, Illustration Board
The Naked Rich, Paperback Cover
By Raymond Jonson
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1953 Medium: Oil on Canvas Laid on Board Dimensions: 27.50" x 21.25" Signature: Titled and Dated '1952' Verso This illustration was published as the cover for The Naked R...
Canvas, Oil, Board
The Complete Detective Cover, Pulp Magazine
By Harry Lemon Parkhurst
Located in Miami, FL
Harry Lemon Parkhurst American, 1876–1962 was a pulp illustrator for crime and detective stories. The works depicts an art thief caught at a peak moment drama when he is dist...
Oil
'You Moron', Liberty Magazine Cover
By Leslie Thrasher
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Original cover for Liberty magazine, published May 23, 1931. Lil and Sandy have their friends Mr. and Mrs. Saunders Shanks over to their house for a game of cards. After settling do...
Canvas, Oil
Figurative art, as opposed to abstract art, retains features from the observable world in its representational depictions of subject matter. Most commonly, figurative paintings reference and explore the human body, but they can also include landscapes, architecture, plants and animals — all portrayed with realism.
While the oldest figurative art dates back tens of thousands of years to cave wall paintings, figurative works made from observation became especially prominent in the early Renaissance. Artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and other Renaissance masters created naturalistic representations of their subjects.
Pablo Picasso is lauded for laying the foundation for modern figurative art in the 1920s. Although abstracted, this work held a strong connection to representing people and other subjects. Other famous figurative artists include Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Figurative art in the 20th century would span such diverse genres as Expressionism, Pop art and Surrealism.
Today, a number of figural artists — such as Sedrick Huckaby, Daisy Patton and Eileen Cooper — are making art that uses the human body as its subject.
Because figurative art represents subjects from the real world, natural colors are common in these paintings. A piece of figurative art can be an exciting starting point for setting a tone and creating a color palette in a room.
Browse an extensive collection of figurative paintings on 1stDibs.