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.
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
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
$1,200
H 17 in W 13 in D 1.25 in
"View of the Empire State NYC in Snow" Impressionistic Ashcan School Style
By Cindy Shaoul
Located in New York, NY
An impressionistic depiction of a figure in the snow with cars and buildings in the busy City Streets. The Empire State Building is portrayed in the background as the snow filled str...
Canvas, Oil, Board
$1,580
H 19.69 in W 22.84 in D 1.78 in
No Ordinary Winter's Tale: Resilience, the War 1943, German Expressionist oil
Located in Norwich, GB
This is no ordinary winter scene. It is the story of prosecution and survival; of resolve and resilience during World War 2, as it was experienced by German Expressionist Heinz Lohma...
Oil, Board
Arabian Rider at Dusk
By Adolf Schreyer
Located in Austin, TX
Adolf Schreyer's "Arabian Rider at Dusk" is a stunning oil painting on canvas that depicts an Arabian rider in a golden sunset. By Adolf Schreyer 8.5" x 15.5" Oil on Canvas Framed...
Canvas, Oil
$2,938Sale Price|28% Off
H 38.19 in W 32.68 in
Workshop of Giulio Carpioni Venetian - 17th century Moses Strikes Rock
By Giulio Carpioni
Located in Varmo, IT
Workshop of Giulio Carpioni (Venice 1613 - Vicenza 1678) - Moses Brings Water from the Rock. 82 x 68 cm (unframed) - 97 x 83 cm (framed). Oil on canvas, in a wooden frame (not sign...
Canvas, Oil
$587Sale Price|66% Off
H 16.15 in W 19.69 in
Octave Cartel(Belgian painter) - 20th century Still life painting - Strawberries
Located in Varmo, IT
Octave Cartel (Belgian, 1884 - 1944) - Still life of strawberries. 27 x 37 cm without frame, 41 x 50 cm with frame. Antique oil painting on cardboard, ...
Canvas, Oil
$705Sale Price|50% Off
H 36.23 in W 27.96 in
W. Miller (British painter) - 19th century Romantic wooded river landscape
Located in Varmo, IT
W. Miller (British, late 19th century) - Wooded Landscape with Stream. 92 x 71 cm. Oil on canvas, unframed. Signed lower left: "W. Miller". W. Miller was a British painter active...
Canvas, Oil
$18,000
H 25 in W 32 in
NYC Cafe WPA American Scene Social Realism Regionalism Modernism Woman Artist
Located in New York, NY
NYC Cafe WPA American Scene Social Realism Regionalism Modernism Woman Artist Dorothy Eaton (1893-1968) New York City Cafe Scene, 1931. 20 x 29 inches ...
Canvas, Oil
$13,200Sale Price|20% Off
H 12 in W 9 in
Girl with Braided Hair, Raphael Soyer
By Raphael Soyer
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Raphael Soyer (1899-1987) Title: Girl with Braided Hair Year: Circa 1947 Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 12 x 9 inches; framed size, 19 x 16 inches Condition: Excellent Inscripti...
Canvas, Oil
$1,763Sale Price|40% Off
H 39.77 in W 29.93 in
European 19th century animalist oil painting - Cattle Flock at Sunset
Located in Varmo, IT
European Painter (19th century) - Landscape with Cattle and Herd at Sunset. 101 x 76 cm. Oil on canvas, unframed (not signed). The scene depicts a mixed group of animals — two adu...
Canvas, Oil
$9,500
H 31.5 in W 26.25 in D 1.5 in
“Guitar Player in Recife, Brazil, 1886” Pernambuco Brazilian Coast Oil Signed
Located in Yardley, PA
“Guitar Player in Recife, Brazil, 1886” by Ferdinand Piereck (1844-1925) An extremely rare 19th century painting of a Brazilian guitarist by Austrian-Brazilian artist Ferdinand Pier...
Canvas, Oil
$1,750
H 8 in W 7 in D 1 in
French Figurative Oil Painting, Orange Shirt Portrait, Small Scale
By Raymond Debieve
Located in Atlanta, GA
A striking small-scale French oil painting by Raymond Debiève, Shirt of Orange, captures the quiet intensity and character of its subject through bold color and confident brushwork. ...
Paper, Oil, Cardboard
$2,574
H 17.72 in W 1.58 in D 2.37 in
Promenade Le Havre Harbor French 1950s Framed Oil Painting Mid 20th Century
By Fred Pailhès
Located in Sutton Poyntz, Dorset
Alfred Henri Pailhès. French ( b.1902 - d.1991 ). Rendez-Vous Des Havrais Pour Leur Promenade Dominicale. Oil On Panel. Signed Lower Left. Image size 12.4 inches x 15.6 inches ( 31.5...
Oil, Board
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