American artist Kara K. Bigda, watercolors

Cherries

Polish Pottery and Blueberries

J. C. Leyendecker ( 1874-1951) American illustrator

Joseph Christian Leyendecker, famous American illustrator, was known for his poster, book, advertising illustrations and numerous covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Leyendecker painted more than 400 magazine covers, 322 for The Saturday Evening Post alone during the Golden Age of American Illustration. Leyendecker was born in Germany, his family immigrated to Chicago in 1882. J. C. Leyendecker received his formal artistic training at the school of the Chicago Art Institute and later he and his younger brother Frank enrolled in the Académie Julian in Paris for a year, where they were exposed to the work of Toulouse-Lautrec, Jules Chéret, and also Alphonse Mucha, a leader in the French Art Nouveau movement.
Leyendecker never married, he was able to indulge in a very luxurious lifestyle and was known for the famous gala-like social gatherings in the 1920s. For much of his adult life Leyendecker lived with another man, Charles Beach who is assumed to have been his lover and who was the original model of the famous Arrow Collar Man. Leyendecker was a chief influence upon his friend Norman Rockwell, Leyendecker's drawing style was cited as a major influence on the character designs of Team Fortress 2, a first person shooter game for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. (wikipedia)

Pastels by Paul Knight (British)

Baron Carl Von Meidinger, Engraving

Antique Views of Berlin

 View of Berlin 1655

 Prospect of the King. Palace in Berlin, 1740

 Berlin, View of the Opera House, New Library and Catholic Church, 1760

 Opera House and Catholic Church in Berlin, 1750

 The Royal Arsenal, Berlin 1750

View of Berlin, 1760

Donald Brun (1909-1999) Swiss Artist - Vintage Posters

 Donald Brun, 1950s

Donald Brun, 1950s

Carl August Richter (1770–1848) - German draftsman, engraver, illustrator and landscape painter

 Carl August Richter - View of the castle and the Catholic church in Desden, 1830

 Carl August Richter - View of the Kuhstall-cave, 1830, etching

 Carl August Richter - Bridge between old and new town, 1830s, etching

Carl August Richter - View from the Bastei to Königstein und Liliestein, 1830, etching

Ukrainian Artist Katerina Shtanko - Illustrations

Adrian Schleich, German Engraver (19th c.)

 "The card lady". 2nd half 19th c.

"Reynard the Fox" 1846

Franco Matticchio, Italian Artist and Illustrator

Hungarian Artist Farago Geza (1877-1928)

 Slim Woman with a Cat, 1913

Paradise lost, 1903

more of his artwork - here

Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944) and the Gibson Girl

In her book America's Great Illustrators, Susan E. Meyer described the Gibson Girl the best way:

"She was taller than the other women currently seen in the pages of magazines.. infinitely more spirited and independent, yet altogether feminine. She appeared in a stiff shirtwaist, her soft hair piled into a chignon, topped by a big plumed hat. Her flowing skirt was hiked up in back with just a hint of a bustle. She was poised and patrician. Though always well bred, there often lurked a flash of mischief in her eyes."

Charles Gibson was born into a wealthy New England family. Recognizing his artistic talent his parents enrolled him in the Art Students League. At the age of 18 Charles started his career with a new magazine then Life.

Gibson'd audience enjoyed the manner in which he poked fun at high society characters. His monthly salary started at $33, the third month he was paid already $185. Tid-Bits, which was later re-named Time magazine, also bought his illustrations. Later Gibson waorked also for Scribner’s Magazine, Century, and Harper’s Magazine.
He started drawing ‘The Gibson Girl’ in 1890. His wife, Irene Langhorne Gibson, was the model for ‘The Gibson Girl’- she was an ideal image of youthful American femininity, the modern woman, athletic, smart, stylish, and desirable and she sold magazines.
Condé Nast agreed to a sharing relationship with Life, for a contract for $100,000 for 100 illustrations over a four-year period. At the height of his career, his salary had reached $75,000 per year.
By 1920 Gibson had the controlling shares of Life magazine, although he sold it in 1932. Gibson suffered a heart attack on his island off the coast of Maine, by the request of president Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gibson was flown via Navy seaplane to New York, where he died a few weeks later.