George Hughes Figurative Paintings

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...

Signature: Signed Lower Left This illustration by George Hughes (1907-1990) was painted for the Saturday Evening Post but never published.

Saturday Evening Post Cover, September 26. 1953 Signed Lower Left

Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 22.00" x 32.00" Signature: Signed Upper Right