Barton Art

Mid-century Cosmopolitan Magazine Cover of a glamorous, sophisticated woman in highly stylish leopard skin gloves and a hat, striking a graphic pose. This artwork is an icon of Amer...

The work is mostly black and white to indicate that this is a night scene. On closer inspection, you will see areas of magenta and ivory throughout The publisher's label on verso ide...

Only Ballantine Ale Brews "Brewer's Gold," ad illustration appeared in the major magazines of the day. A magic moment is caught at a peak point of drama. It's the instant of friends having fun. A cold beer from the fridge is offered and it's is acknowledged with a head nod. The woman in the foreground covers her giggling face reacting to a funny comment. The decisive moment is preserved. Sounds like a critique of an art photograph? No, it's an illustrator. This ingenious Infiniti "S" composition simultaneously represents the best of photography and painting. Cartier-Bresson could have captured the precise moment. While Nicolas Poussin could have rendered the complex figural composition. Add to it , a painting technique and color scheme with the quick drama of a post-impressionist. We have a great work of art by an overlooked American illustrator/artist/painter, Mike Ludlow...

Elegant and graphic study of a figure of undetermined gender. It's executed with quick and confident brush strokes in the artist's signature color scheme of black and red. It's a fla...

For those who appreciate good academic painting and drawing, study Pearl Frush. She gets it right. In the present work, Frush paints a perfect face. Not just anatomically, but also i...

Most likely for Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Collier's Weekly, Good Housekeeping or Macall's

Joe De Mers specialized in illustrations depicting the modern mid-century American girl. He did not portray them as stereotypes, but as a diverse array of dazzling females, sweet, ch...

An Introspective 1930s Modern Portrait, "Acolyte" by Notable Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Dry watercolor on board. Artwork size: 15 x 12 inches (Framed size: 1...

Hand-signed by artist, sticker label, Signed (as Emmett Kaye) lower right it was Mort Kunstler's pseudonym, unframed , Gouache on illustration board

Heads Up, Edmund Dulac depicts a strong and confident woman in art in the 1930s. The work shows Queen Thomysis witnessing a beheading. This complex figurative work was an original de...

Adolf Arthur Dehn Haitian Scene A, ca. 1951 Watercolor gouache on board Signed on the front Frame included: held in vintage modern frame Measurements: Framed: 11 inches vertical by ...

“Graduation Day” is emblematic of mid-century American Illustration. But the real story of this storytelling work is that it embodies the lost art of portrait painting and graphic design. Alex Ross borrows on the classical tradition and flaunts his skills as a narrative painter. In “Graduation Day”, he paints a complex composition involving at least thirteen portraits. The subjects are beautifully rendered and lit. They are set against a dark grey background and jump off the surface at the viewer. The composition is complexly designed. The future graduate in the red jacket engaging with a girl photographer is a compositional device that leads the viewer's eye to the main subject - a father congratulating his son on graduating from medical school. Creating art that relies on facial expressions and body gestures is a talent absent in contemporary art. Why? It’s very hard to do and takes years and training and practice to get it right. Despite Alex Ross's folksy subject matter, this work is a high example of naturalism and representation by an important member of the Golden Age of American Illustration. Signed lower right Born in the town of Dunfermline, Scotland, Alexander Sharpe Ross (1908-1990) moved with his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1911. After attending Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University), Ross moved to New York and joined the Charles E. Cooper Studio, where he worked among such notable illustrators as Ward Brackett, Stevan Dohanos, J. Frederick Smith...