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.
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
“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
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
Beach landscape on Atlantic French coast
Located in BELEYMAS, FR
Jean-Georges PASQUET (Périgueux 1851 - 1936) Pointe de Suzac at Saint Georges de Didonne Oil on canvas H. 59 cm; W. 85 cm Signed and dated 1885 lower left Provenance: Private collec...
Oil, Canvas
$1,950
H 19.5 in W 23.5 in D 1 in
“Bermuda Coast” Henrietta Dunn Mears American Impressionist Oil on Board Signed
By Henrietta Dunn Mears
Located in Yardley, PA
A vibrant Bermuda seascape depicting the rocky shoreline with turquoise waters breaking against sunlit boulders beneath a sweeping tree. Mears uses bold, textured brushstrokes and a ...
Oil, Board
$7,300
H 36 in W 48 in D 0.875 in
"Dancer's Dream" Large Original Oil Painting by Robert White, Frameless Display
Located in Encino, CA
“Dancer's Dream,” an original oil on canvas by Robert K. White, is a piece for the true collector. White’s careful attention to detail and vivid use of greens, browns, and whites project from the painting, immediately capturing the viewer's attention and highlighting the artist's keen ability to capture emotion and life - all in a brushstroke. White's talent for depicting light and shadow provides the foundation for him to deliver subjects and scenes to the viewer's eye. This masterful work would make a great addition to an art collection and enhance most any home, perfect for those who have an affinity for dancers, the ballet, portraits, and color-rich works of art. In the artist’s own words, “I don’t paint what is inside of me; I paint what I see outside of me. I’m an observer. If I see something and I feel an affinity for it, something just clicks in my head. I’ll make the decision right then and there to paint that particular subject during that particular moment. It’s a perfect moment. Once something has caught my eye and I’ve heard the “perfect” click, it’s like a photograph has been taken in my mind’s eye. I only have a few days of clarity with that image. I have to start the painting quickly or else it will be gone and I will lose that image forever.” Artist: ROBERT KENNETH WHITE...
Oil, Canvas
$1,435Sale Price|40% Off
H 39.38 in W 31.89 in
The Billiard Player oil on canvas painting
By Fernando Botero
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Title: The Billiard Player Artist: Anonymous Technique: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 39.4 x 31.9 in Period: c. 2000 Condition: Good Art Movement: Contemporary Figurativism, Neofiguratio...
Canvas, Oil
$25,000
H 34 in W 28 in D 2 in
"Sock Hop" Mid-Century American Modernism WPA Female Artist 20th Century Realism
By Kyra Markham
Located in New York, NY
"Sock Hop" Mid-Century American Modernism WPA Female Artist 20th Century Realism. 30 x 24 inches. Oil on canvas. Signed on stretcher, c. 1940s. Frame is likely original to the painting. Realist painter-printmaker Kyra Markham...
Canvas, Oil
$17,500
H 15.5 in W 17.5 in D 1.25 in
“An Orange Sale - Savannah, 1914” Georgia Impressionist African American Oil
By Harry Leslie Hoffman
Located in Yardley, PA
A wonderfully vivid view of a Savannah fruit market by Harry Leslie Hoffman, dating to his 1914 trip to the city. Hoffman paints the figures with remarkable confidence and sets them...
Oil, Board
$4,784
H 28.35 in W 32.68 in D 1.58 in
Late XIX Century Italian Church Interior
Located in Roma, IT
A beautiful oil painting on canvas from the second half of the 19th century. It depicts a church interior with rare intensity. The attention to detail, the quality of the brushwork, ...
Canvas, Oil
$9,500
H 25.5 in W 21.5 in D 2 in
“Jamaican Girl by the Palm Tree, c. 1930” American Impressionist Portrait Lyme
By Will Howe Foote
Located in Yardley, PA
“Jamaican Girl by the Palm Tree, c. 1930” by Will Howe Foote (American, 1874-1965) A fantastic portrait of a young Jamaican woman set against a vibrant palm frond, painted by the re...
Oil, Board
$7,500
H 19.5 in W 15.5 in D 1.5 in
“Eastern White Pines, c. 1910”, New England Landscape, Signed Oil Painting
By Charles Warren Eaton
Located in Yardley, PA
“Eastern White Pines, c. 1910” by Charles Warren Eaton (American, 1857-1937). A wonderful example of Eaton’s renowned compositions of Eastern white pine trees in his mature style. A...
Canvas, Oil, Board
$669Sale Price|20% Off
H 16.93 in W 12.41 in
A sitting one - Figurative Oil Realistic painting, Young artist, Female nude
Located in Warsaw, PL
AGNIESZKA STAAK-JANCZARSKA (born in 1994) A graduate of the State Secondary School of Art of Józef Kluza in Krakow. In 2020, she graduated from the Aca...
Oil, Board
$9,500
H 20 in W 24 in D 2 in
Landscape with Artist. Mid-Century Chicago Modernist Oil Painting.
Located in Marco Island, FL
Chicago Modernist, William Schwartz, painted this dynamic landscape of an artist painting en plein air. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago shortly after emigrating to the Un...
Board, Oil, Canvas
$75,000
H 17 in W 21 in
"Pelham Bay" WPA American Scene Social Realism Modern NYC Subway Transportation
Located in New York, NY
"Pelham Bay" WPA American Scene Social Realism Modern NYC Subway Transportation Daniel Ralph Celantano (1902-1980) "Pelham Bay" 12 1/4 x 16 inches Oil on canvas Signed lower cente...
Oil, Canvas
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