Classic Saturday Evening Post Covers Highlight Heritage Illustration Event
BEVERLY HILLS — J.C. Leyendecker’s Honeymoon, The Saturday Evening Post cover, July 17, 1926, one of the illustrator’s all-time greatest Post covers, is expected to bring $80,000+ as the centerpiece of Heritage Auctions’ April 11-12 Illustration Art Signature® Auction.
“I would argue that this is not only one of Leyendecker’s greatest Post covers, but one of his greatest works, period,” said Ed Jaster, Senior Vice President at Heritage Auctions. “The detail, the amazingly vibrant color and the vividly depicted subjects all add up to a masterpiece among masterpieces from one of the form’s greatest practitioners. I fully expect top collectors to come after this piece with tremendous enthusiasm.”
As a complement to the Leyendecker cover Heritage will also be offering two more superb Post covers from two more names whose art are closely associated with the publication, neither of which has ever been offered at auction: John Philip Falter’s Antique Store Accident, The Saturday Evening Post cover, June 20, 1959 (estimate: $40,000+) and Thorton Utz’s joyfully detailed Love's Lost Child at Information Booth, The Saturday Evening Post Christmas cover, December 20, 1958 (estimate: $30,000+).
“It’s hard to remember a more balanced auction for all collector tastes than this,” said Todd Hignite, Vice President of Heritage Auctions. “There’s truly an A+ example for every collecting interest, across every wrinkle of the genre, this time out.”
Further Golden Age highlights include two stunning Jessie Willcox Smith paintings - led by Smith’s evocative The Story Hour, Harper's Bazaar story illustration, May 1903 (Estimate: $100,000+) - along with one of the greatest Dean Cornwell paintings Heritage has ever offered, The Desert Healer, Cosmopolitan magazine story illustration, November 1922 (estimate: $30,000+), and Norman Rockwell’s Man with Rod and Reel, preliminary study for an advertisement, circa 1940 (estimate: $30,000+).
Pin-Up and Pulp Art is always a hugely popular segment in Heritage Illustration events, and this auction features examples by the biggest names in the form, including Gil Elvgren’s Doctor, Are All Those Fellows Interns?, Brown & Bigelow calendar pin-up, 1946 (Estimate: $40,000+), a never-before-offered classic from the master of the Pin-Up, and a beautiful Alberto Vargas, Brunette in Blue with Phone (Maxine Emitt), circa 1952 (estimate: $20,000+).
Following the world record price for Patrick Nagel art that Heritage set in its last illustration auction, the company is offering one of the largest - almost seven-foot tall - and most impressive paintings by Nagel ever to come to auction, his Her Seductive Look (estimate: $20,000+).
Pulp Art is particularly strong in this auction, led by one of the all-time science fiction classic covers, Earle Bergey’s The Cybernetic Brains, Startling Stories pulp cover, September 1950 (estimate: $30,000+) and complemented by extraordinary pulp covers from Margaret Brundage, The Six Sleepers, Weird Tales pulp cover, October 1935 (estimate: $30,000+) and Frank R. Paul’s The Ideal, Wonder Stories pulp magazine cover, September 1935 (estimate: $10,000+).
Further highlights include, but are not limited to:
Hugh Joseph Ward, I Find Murder, Speed Detective pulp cover, June 1945: Estimate $30,000+.
Norman Saunders, Remember Rose for Murder!, Dime Detective pulp cover, April 1953: Estimate $15,000+.
Edward Runci, Scenic Shorelines, 1950: Estimate $15,000+.
Enoch Bolles, Thoughts of Money, Spicy Stories pulp cover, March 1937: Estimate $10,000+.
Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $800 million, and 750,000+ online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com
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