The work of American realist painter and illustrator Charles Edward Chambers is characterized by such an exceptional mastery of color and composition that, in his day, his refined figurative paintings may have fooled collectors into thinking he was a graduate of the Académie des Beaux-Arts.
Born in 1883 in Ottumwa, Iowa, Chambers studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League of New York under Canadian-American painter George Bridgman. Another of his teachers was illustrator Fanny Munsell (later his wife), who influenced his style and technique. Munsell secured illustration work for a range of magazines, including Cosmopolitan and Women’s Home Companion, before she died in 1920.
Chambers learned to modify his painting technique so that his work was primed for reproduction on a mass scale. He gained recognition as a classical figurative painter and illustrator during World War I when, in 1917, he illustrated a well-known poster for the U.S. Food Administration titled Food Will Win The War. He was also a regular contributor as an illustrator at the time to Harper’s Monthly and created covers for Redbook magazine.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Chambers kept busy with editorial assignments and advertising campaigns. While it’s true that Art Nouveau posters were plastered everywhere along the streets of Paris during the early years of the Belle Époque, poster art continued to remain very relevant in the Art Deco years, too. While creating illustrations for authors such as Pearl Buck, W. Somerset Maugham, Faith Baldwin and Louis Bromfield, Chambers earned advertising commissions from the decades’ prominent companies and brands. These included painting portraits of famous musicians Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alfred Cortot and Ignacy Jan Paderewski for Steinway & Sons and designing billboard ads and posters for cigarette company Chesterfield and soap manufacturer Palmolive.
Today, Chambers’s works remain favorites among collectors of vintage 20th-century art.
Find original Charles Edward Chambers paintings and prints on 1stDibs.
She Answers The Question
By Charles E. Chambers
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Image of two men standing in front of woman seated at desk. Charles Edward Chambers was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, studied at the Chicago Art Institute, and later the Art Students Lea...
Canvas, Oil
$14,800Sale Price|20% Off
“I was playing Chopin, with an ache in my heart.” Illustration for Harper’s Mag
By Charles E. Chambers
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Story illustration for “The High Cost of Conscience” by Beatrice Witt Ravenel for Harper’s Magazine, published January 1919. Year: 1918 Dimensions: 30.00" x 21.00", Framed 35.5" x ...
Canvas, Oil
Family Escape
By Charles E. Chambers
Located in Fort Washington, PA
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...
Oil, Board
“Wang the Tiger had his own port…” Story illustration for Sons by Pearl S. Buck
By Charles E. Chambers
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1932 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 24.00" x 33.00" Signature: Signed Lower Left Story illustration for “Sons” by Pearl S. Buck, published in Cosmopolitan, October 1932, pages 66-67. "Sons" serves as the poignant sequel to Buck's story The Good Earth...
Canvas, Oil
Couple with Chauffeur
By Charles E. Chambers
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Couple in a car with a Chauffeur Signed lower left. Charles Edward Chambers was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, studied at the Chicago Art Institute, and later the Art Students League in ...
Canvas, Oil
Story illustration for “Appearance and Reality” by Somerset Maugham
By Charles E. Chambers
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Story illustration for “Appearance and Reality” by W. Somerset Maugham, published in Cosmopolitan, November 1934, pages 22-23. Described as "A masterfully witty story of manners and...
Canvas, Oil
"Ringmaster"
By Charles E. Chambers
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...
Canvas, Oil
$945Sale Price|30% Off
H 25 in W 29 in D 2 in
Woman Carrying Wood, Early 20th Century Figurative Landscape
By Enrique Brocco
Located in Soquel, CA
Beautiful early 20th century figurative landscape of a woman carrying a basket of wood kindling by a rushing river, high in the Italian hills by Enrique Brocco (Italian, 20th Century...
Board, Oil
$6,140
H 23.63 in W 23.63 in
Quayside Figures - Grey + Green Seascape Landscape Oil Painting with Boats
By Nicholas Turner
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Nicholas Turner b. 1972 Quayside Figures, 2025 oil on canvas 60 x 60 cm 23 5/8 x 23 5/8 in signed, titled and dated verso Born in London, Turner spent many years in Bristol before ...
Canvas, Oil
Title: "Le bruit des sabots"
By Elodie Huré
Located in Saint-Didier, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Title: Le bruit des sabots Technique: oil on canvas Date: 2019 Size: 54 x 81 cm 490 euros
Canvas, Oil
$2,500
H 20 in W 16 in
Golden Eyes - Portrait of a Woman with a Piercing Gaze, Original Oil Painting
By Richard Gibbons
Located in Chicago, IL
Richard Gibbons' painting "Golden Eyes" shows a portrait of a beautiful young woman. Her piercing gaze brings the viewer in for a closer look. Her sultry, yellow eyes are intoxicatin...
Canvas, Oil, Board
$921
H 23.04 in W 26.38 in
Mid Century Modern Swedish Interior Figurative Oil Painting - Shared Moments
Located in Bristol, GB
SHARED MOMENTS Size: 58.5 x 67 cm (including frame) Oil on canvas A beautifully atmospheric mid-century modernist oil painting depicting two figures in a quiet interior scene, execu...
Canvas, Oil
For Your Eyes Only
By Roxana Khonkulova
Located in Zofingen, AG
The work speaks of a moment of intimacy - as a state of trust that is only beginning to form. It is a space where it becomes possible to be imperfect. Openness ceases to be a risk an...
Canvas, Oil
$2,604Sale Price|20% Off
H 24.02 in W 29.14 in
Spanish Landscape Oil Painting on Canvas, Impressionist, Circa 1890
By Enrique Galwey
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Enrique Galwey (1864-1931) - Landscape - Oil canvas Oil measurements 61x74 cm. Frameless. Signed down right (Barcelona 1864-1931). Spanish painter. He began his training at the San ...
Canvas, Oil
Interior at Frick
By Paula Craioveanu
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Oil on canvas.
Canvas, Oil
$19,364
H 20 in W 23.5 in
Le Grand Be - Saint-Malo - Post Impressionist Seascape Oil by Othon Friesz
By Achille-Émile Othon Friesz
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed oil on canvas seascape circa 1935 by French post impressionist painter Achille-Emile Othon Friesz. The piece depicts a view of La Grand Bé, an uninhabited tidal island located...
Oil, Canvas
$4,600
H 50.01 in W 52.01 in D 2.01 in
Cafe Max, bar scene red and bright color, music, genre, night club
By Stephen Basso
Located in Brooklyn, NY
*ABOUT Stephen Basso Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical works are alive with boundless imagina...
Canvas, Oil
$2,906
H 19.3 in W 14.18 in D 2.76 in
'A Path in the Forest' by Frans Binjé ( Luik 1835 – 1900 Brussels) Belgian
Located in Knokke, BE
Binje Frans Luik 1835 – 1900 Brussels Belgian Painter 'A Path in the Forest' Signature: signed lower right Dimensions: image size 36 x 22 cm, fram...
Canvas, Oil
Provincetown Seaside Landscape
By John Whorf
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
John Whorf was born in Boston in 1903. His father, Harry Whorf, was an artist and graphic designer. When John decided at a young age to become an artist himself, his father provided ...
Canvas, Oil
Elderly Couple
By Charles E. Chambers
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signature: Signed Lower Left Framed: 36.00" x 41.00"
Canvas, Oil
Couple Parting on Porch in Snow
By Charles E. Chambers
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1915 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 30.00" x 21.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Couple parting on porch in snow. “They had formed a little code of leave-taking” Story illustration: “The Turmoil”, author: Booth Tarkington...
Canvas, Oil