George Hughes Figurative Paintings
American, 1907-1990
A native New Yorker, George Hughes studied at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design. Some of his early work included fashion drawing, and there was a stint as a special designer in the automobile field in Detroit.
For many years, Hughes was one of the most prolific painters of Saturday Evening Post covers; in addition, he painted many editorial illustrations for the Post and other publications, including McCall’s, Woman’s Day, American Magazine, Reader’s Digest, and Cosmopolitan magazines.
Hughes was one of the originators and masters of the “sitcom” magazine cover, and through his efforts, readers would spend minutes rather than seconds looking at the covers.
Also a painter, he exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, The Detroit Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago. In recent years he restricted his work to portraiture.to
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Artist: George Hughes
Readying for First Date, Original Cover for The Saturday Evening Post
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
A mother helps her son put on a tie in preparation for a formal party. Original cover for The Saturday Evening Post, October 16, 1948. George Hughes used his neighbors, the Rockwells, as models. The young man is Thomas Rockwell, the son of famed Norman Rockwell, and the mother is modeled after Thomas' actual mother and Norman's then-wife, Mary Rockwell...
Category
1940s George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Future President, Saturday Evening Post Cover
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Approximate Date: 1948
Medium: Oil on Board
Signature: Signed Lower Left
Size: 20" x 16", Framed: 26" x 22"
Original cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, September 25 1...
Category
1940s George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Highway Boat Ride, Original summer cover for The Saturday Evening Post, 1962
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Original cover for The Saturday Evening Post magazine, published July 14-July 21, 1962
This 1962 Post cover by George Hughes evokes the carefree spirit of summer road trips. While m...
Category
1960s George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Refinishing an Heirloom, Original Cover for The Saturday Evening Post
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Saturday Evening Post, September 24, 1960, cover illustration.
The present work was published as the cover illustration of the September 24, 1960 issue of The Saturday Evening Post....
Category
1960s George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas, Board
Eavesdropping on Grownups, Saturday Evening Post Cover
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signature: Signed Lower Left
Original cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, December 2, 1950
The Post described, “One night Art Editor Stuart was having a party. His three boys came downstairs four times and were conducted back up by their mother. The next time they came down, Papa Stuart waxed excited, firmly conveyed them aloft himself, and they did not show up again. Stuart was warmly congratulated on his success as a father. When the party broke up, the youngest lad was found asleep on the stairs. Stuart claims that the older ones never did come down again, but this was probably because they merely went to sleep in their beds from natural causes. George Hugehes has painted some other people’s offspring, to get over the idea that children all over America are eager to improve their minds by listening to sophisticated conversation.”
(The Saturday Evening Post, December 2, 1950, p. 3)
Exhibited:
Norman Rockwell Museum...
Category
1950s George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Crying on Santa's Lap, Original Christmas cover for The Saturday Evening Post
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Original Christmas holiday cover for The Saturday Evening Post, published December 6, 1958
We’re thrilled to announce the acquisition of an original 1958 Christmas cover for The Sat...
Category
1950s George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
(Untitled)
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Board
Dimensions: 18.00" x 23.75
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Category
Mid-20th Century George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Sunday Afternoon Callers, Saturday Evening Post Cover, June 17, 1950
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Masonite
Signature: Signed 'Hughes-' Lower Left
This work was published as the cover of the June 17, 1950 edition of The Saturday Evening Post.
Literature:
J. Cohn, ...
Category
1950s George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Masonite, Oil
High Score, This Week Magazine
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1950
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Signature: Signed Lower Center
Contact for exact dimensions.
High Score, By Frank Bennett, This Week Magazine, September 1...
Category
1950s George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Coming up Roses
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signature: Signed Lower Left, "Hughes"
Medium: Oil on Masonite
Framed 24.50" x 26.50"
Original cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, June 8, 1957.
The Post described, “...
Category
1950s George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Masonite, Oil
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Previously Available Items
Learning to Ride a Bike by George Hughes
By George Hughes
Located in New Orleans, LA
George Hughes
1907-1990 American
Learning to Ride a Bike
Oil on board
The great illustrator George Hughes found his place in the hearts and homes of families nationwide with his humorous and nostalgic renderings of American life. American illustrators like Hughes had the challenge of creating an image that expressed an entire story without any written description. They were a narrative that unfolded on a single canvas and clearly expressed the everyday human experience that almost all could relate to. This oil on masonite, entitled Learning to Ride a Bike, was created for the July 12, 1954 cover of the Saturday Evening Post.
Hughes’s composition captures both the simple joys of childhood and of parenting. On a quiet suburban street, a father runs alongside his young son’s accelerating bike, bearing a focused and startled expression as he guides the handlebars. In stark contrast to the father’s trepidation, his son could not be more delighted; he grins from ear to ear with widened eyes, and his feet are no longer resting on the pedals. In the background, a woman in a long red dress...
Category
20th Century George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Two Women with Baby Carriages
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signature: Signed Lower Left
This illustration by George Hughes (1907-1990) was painted for the Saturday Evening Post but never published.
Category
1950s George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Boys Washing Dishes, Post Cover
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Saturday Evening Post Cover, September 26. 1953
Signed Lower Left
Category
1950s George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Table Talk
By George Hughes
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 22.00" x 32.00"
Signature: Signed Upper Right
Category
Mid-20th Century George Hughes Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
George Hughes figurative paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic George Hughes figurative paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by George Hughes in oil paint, paint, board and more. Not every interior allows for large George Hughes figurative paintings, so small editions measuring 1 inch across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of John Ford Clymer, Philip Evergood, and Coby Whitmore. George Hughes figurative paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,900 and tops out at $228,500, while the average work can sell for $185,000.