“A storyteller with a brush, a custodian of the past” is how illustrator Tom Lovell once described himself. Lovell is regarded as one of the 20th century’s leading Western artists, with his work including figurative paintings of important historical events, portraits of homespun American life and thought-provoking illustrations for publications such as Life, National Geographic and The Saturday Evening Post.
Born in 1909 in New York City, Lovell spent his childhood in Nutley, New Jersey, where he developed a keen interest in art and Native American culture. He often visited New York’s American Museum of Natural History, where he would sketch Native American clothing, weapons and artifacts.
Lovell studied art at Syracuse University, where he roomed with future well-known illustrator Harry Anderson. While there, he began his illustration career by selling his work to pulp magazines. Later, he illustrated for publications such as The American, Cosmopolitan and Women’s Home Companion.
During World War II, Lovell enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve and created illustrations for the Marine Corps’s Leatherneck magazine and the Marine Corps Gazette. He also completed several large paintings chronicling historical military events; they are now displayed at the Marine Corps headquarters in Washington, DC.
After the war, Lovell continued illustrating for magazines like Collier’s, Redbook, Ladies’ Home Journal and McCall’s, which featured “Day of Yellow Flowers,” one of his better-known illustrations. He contributed a series of historical works, including his famous Civil War painting “Surrender at Appomattox,” to National Geographic.
Throughout the 1960s, he was increasingly fascinated with the American Southwest. In 1975, Lovell and his family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he found inspiration for his landscapes that depict Native American and Old West culture.
Lovell received numerous accolades throughout his career. In 1974, the Society of Illustrators named him a Hall of Fame Laureate. In 1992, the National Academy of Western Art and National Cowboy Museum honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Lovell is the only artist to have won the National Cowboy Museum’s invitational Prix de West exhibition twice.
Lovell died in 1997. His illustrations and paintings continue to be prized by Western art and Americana collectors.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of Tom Lovell’s paintings.
“Suddenly he was the lover she’d sent away so long ago.”
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Magazine story illustration for “Wherever You Walk” by Mary Thayer Muller for Cosmopolitan, published February 1956, page 26. The romantic story is introduced by the magazine as fol...
Paint
Below Deck Gouache Painting, Realist Style, Signed, 1950s, 15.2x32
By Tom Lovell
Located in Miami, FL
Charles Martignette Heritage Auctions, This is a Wonderfully rendered work with high level of detail and color saturation. Norman Rockwellesqu...
Gouache
$125,000
“A Date for the Baby Sitter” Magazine story illustration for Good Housekeeping
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Story illustration for “A Date for the Baby Sitter” by Eileen Herbert Jordan for Good Housekeeping, published December 1958, illustrated pages 58-59 The full caption reads: “Thus Peggy went forth—sailed might be the better word—escorted by part of the Navy.” The snowy scene features a woman and two sailors leaving the house at Christmas time. Exhibited: The Triumph of Winter, National Arts Club, New York, December 16, 2013- January 5, 2014 Date: 1958 Medium: Oil on Board Dimensions: 23.20" x 33.50" Signature: Signed Lower Left A Native American finding a Raggedy Ann doll...
Oil, Board
$35,000
Bridal White
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right and Titled on reverse Dimensions: 28.13" x 25.13" (71.45 cm x 63.83 cm) Literature: Temple Bailey, Bridal White, The American Mag...
Canvas, Oil
“I had the pleasure of knowing your dear departed husband, ” Cosmopolitan
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Magazine story illustration for “Saratoga Trunk” by Edna Ferber for Hearst’s International Combined with Cosmopolitan, published July 1941, pages 42-43....
Canvas, Oil
Gondola In Venice, 1947
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Masonite Signature: Signed Upper Left Original Use: Interior Illustration for The American Magazine Excellent Condition This luminous, expressive oil on masonite wa...
Masonite, Oil
Happy Endings
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Linen Signature: Signed and Dated Story illustration for "Farewell Without Regret" by Sarah-Elizabeth Rodger for Good Housekeeping, published July 1940, page 58. The...
Linen, Oil
$53,000
Attorney at Sea
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed TOM/LOVELL (lower left); also titled Attorney/at Sea (on the reverse)
Canvas, Oil
$11,000
Gold Mining Camp
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Dimensions: Sight Size 18.75" x 26.00;" Framed 26.00" x 33.00"
Canvas, Oil
Formal Affair
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: July 1942 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 36.00" x 26.00" Signature: Signed Lower Left Illustration for Cosmopolitan magazine. Tom Lovell’s illustrations range from adventur...
Canvas, Oil
The Crime Scene, Original Magazine Story Illustration
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Illustration for True magazine, presumably published February 1956. Nighttime scene of policemen and bloodhounds investigating a murder on a cobblestone street. Approximate Date: 1956 Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right Size: 22.70" x 16.20" Tom Lovell Biography: A Native American finding a Raggedy Ann doll...
Board, Oil
Blondin Crossing Niagara
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Masonite Signature: Signed Lower Left This piece was published as an illustration in True Magazine titled "Blondin Crossing Niagara" in 1953. Born Jean-François Grave...
Masonite, Oil
$1,100
H 12.75 in W 9.75 in D 1.25 in
A Unique, Surrealist 1950s Mid-Century Modern Painting, Beach Scene / Bathers
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Unique, Striking 1950s Surrealist Mid-Century Modern Abstract Beach Scene with Bathers by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Depicting an abstracted painting o...
Masonite, Oil
$4,750
H 35.5 in W 43.75 in D 3 in
Chinese Dim Sum Feast in the San Francisco Bay Area
Located in San Francisco, CA
Created in the mid 1970s by California artist Raymond Howell (1927–2002), “Chinese Dim Sum Feast,” depicts diners being served in a Chinese restaurant, ...
Masonite, Oil
$9,198
H 20.25 in W 26.25 in D 2.75 in
Historical genre oil painting of gentlemen playing bowls
By Frank Moss Bennett
Located in Nr Broadway, Worcestershire
Frank Moss Bennett British, (1874-1952) The Bowling Match Oil on canvas, signed & dated 1922, with original slip Image size: 13.5 inches x 19.5 inches Size including frame: 20.25 in...
Canvas, Oil
$8,000
H 12.5 in W 11.5 in D 0.75 in
"Sailing at Sunset" Realist Oil Painting on Canvas Board of Sailboat in Open Sea
By George Nemethy
Located in New York, NY
George Nemethy finds his inspiration in moments of quiet and solitude. Where he finds himself one with the sea and the sky and the tranquil world which he freely escapes to. Trained from an early age by his father Albert Nemethy, a world-renowned painter known best for his large scale steamer boats, George found and nurtured his passion for miniature sailboats...
Oil, Board, Canvas
$4,850
H 10.75 in W 8.75 in
The Bridge Over the Sauceron at Nesles la Vallée (Val d'Oise) Maurice de Lambert
Located in SANTA FE, NM
"The Bridge upon the Sauceron at Nesles la Vallée (Val d'Oise), 1918" Maurice Walter Edmond de Lambert (French, 1873-1952) Oil on cardboard Signed and dated lower right 10 3/4 x 8 3/...
Oil, Cardboard
$25,668
H 20 in W 25 in
Repos dans un champs de coquelicots - Pointillist Landscape Oil by Yvonne Canu
By Yvonne Canu
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed pointillist oil on panel figures in landscape by French neo-impressionist painter Yvonne Canu. This stunning piece depicts a couple resting under a parasol in a field of wildf...
Oil, Board
$7,500
H 10.5 in W 8.5 in D 1.75 in
"Sailing in the Afternoon" Realist Oil Painting on Board of Sailboat in Open Sea
By George Nemethy
Located in New York, NY
George Nemethy finds his inspiration in moments of quiet and solitude. Where he finds himself one with the sea and the sky and the tranquil world which he freely escapes to. Trained from an early age by his father Albert Nemethy, a world-renowned painter known best for his large scale steamer boats, George found...
Oil, Canvas, Board
$37,500
H 32 in W 32 in D 1.25 in
“Palm Trees Along Florida Coast, c. 1940” Jane Peterson Impressionist Palm Beach
By Jane Peterson
Located in Yardley, PA
A wonderful example of Peterson’s views of the Florida Coast during her winter trips down south. Painted during Peterson’s mature period, this lively work underscores the energy of ...
Canvas, Oil
$2,775
H 40 in W 30 in
I Used to Dream - Original Figurative Vibrant Mixed Media Painting on Canvas
By Xenia Gray
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Rooted in introspection and emotional nuance, Xenia Gray’s figurative mixed media works capture the quiet tension between solitude and connection. Her paintings often depict the huma...
Canvas, Charcoal, Oil, Acrylic
$1,500
H 7.25 in W 9.25 in D 1 in
"Lobster Pots" Gloucester Massachusetts Seashore Scene Oil Painting with Figure
By Christopher Willett 1
Located in New York, NY
Impressionist seashore landscape with figure of fisherman, lobster pots, and crashing waves in Gloucester Massachusetts. Willet has portrayed this piece in a most dramatic and energetic way and has packed much feeling into this miniature work. It is almost as if we are there in the waves in the early morning, with the man and his lobster pots. Christopher is known for capturing the beauty and simplicity of an earlier time of the 20th Century; old New York, families working together, villages and farms and friends taking walks together. Many are depicted in recognizable historical settings and this piece is an excellent example of this. Christopher engages his audience with the quick use of brushwork and great attention to picking up the energy passionately of his subjects. The piece comes housed in a decorated dark tone wood frame and it is ready to be displayed with hanging wire on verso. Art measures 5 x 7 inches Frame measures 7.25 x 9.25 inches Christopher Willett...
Oil, Board
$5,900
H 45.28 in W 45.28 in D 1.19 in
Contemporary Abstract Figurative Graffiti, 115X115 cm, Excellent
By Natan Cooper
Located in New York, NY
The image is a colorful, abstract acrylic on canvas artwork that combines figurative and geometric elements. At the center, there is a person with short dark hair, resting their arms...
Canvas, Oil
A Haitian Country Scene
Located in San Francisco, CA
Haitian artist Jacksin Mésidor painted this from his Caribbean coastal hometown of Cap-Haitien in the north of his native land. As Haitian folk art, the painting delivers an archityp...
Masonite, Oil
Up the Staircase
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed and Dated Lower Left Dimensions: Sight Size 30.50" x 34.75," Framed 36.00" x 39.50"
Oil, Canvas
Man and Woman Kissing in Swamp
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Unknown Signature: Unsigned Contact for exact dimensions.
Paint
The Mutiny
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed lower Left
Oil, Board
Artist Muse
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right
Canvas, Oil
Balloonists Struggle to Escape a Doomed Gondola
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Left Provenance: Commissioned by the National Geographic Society. Exhibitions: Stockbridge, Massachusetts, The Norman Rockwell Museum,...
Oil, Board
"You're Not to Tell Anyone"
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 32.00" x 35.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Story illustration for “Mrs. Parkington” by Louis Bromfield for Cosmopolitan, published November 1942, pages 56 and 57. The full caption reads: “‘And you’re not to tell anyone where you’re going or that you’re going away together,’ Mrs. Parkington said as she told Janie and Ned her plan.” A Native American finding a Raggedy Ann doll...
Canvas, Oil
Saturday Evening Post Story Illustration
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1942 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 36.00" x 26.00" Signature: Signed Lower Left Story illustration for Saturday Evening Post magazine, 1942, page 47. A Native American finding a Raggedy Ann doll...
Canvas, Oil