11:00 AM Central Time, Tuesday, April 21

Curators' Picks: April 21 Illustration Art Signature Auction
Our curators picked their favorite items from our upcoming April 21 Illustration Art Signature® Auction.
| Sarahjane's Picks Sarahjane Blum | Director of Illustration Art
James Avati The Fountainhead paperback cover, 1952
Over the course of his career, James Avati earned the moniker King of the Paperbacks for his nuanced and dramatic interpretations of the books for which he created cover art. One of his tricks? Doing a close read of these works before distilling their most dramatic and human moments into indelible images. In this cover, for the 1952 Signet edition of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, he foregrounds the complex intellectual and physical connection between the two main characters. To my eyes, it’s the most successful cover ever created for this significant piece of 20th century literature.
William Pène du Bois The Great Dog Robbery (101 Dalmatians), Women's Day magazine interiors (three works), 1956
A dog lover my whole life, Cruella De Vil has long topped my list of most villainous villains. But I’ve always had to give her credit for her style—which was first introduced to the public in these images by William Pène du Bois for the Women’s Day serialized story "The Great Dog Robbery", which would then be adapted into Disney’s 101 Dalmations. It’s not often we see the birth of a legend like this, and it’s a treat to offer.
Chris Van Allsburg The Wreck of the Zephyr book interior, 1983
Chris Van Allsburg has created some of the most lyrical and beautiful children’s book art of late 20th century, asking time and again whether seeing is believing. In this example from The Wreck of the Zephyr, we are brought into the very moment in the story where presumed reality is broken, and sailboats begin to fly. It’s enchanting, and ominous, much like the true complexity of growing up.
Gil Elvgren Jill Needs Jack, 1950
Jill Needs Jack has everything I look for in a piece of classic pin-up art. A fantastic beauty, a great quip, just enough background elements to tell a story without pulling focus away from the central figure. It’s just one of a wonderful selection of works from the Louis and Susan Meisel collection which we are offering in this auction, all of which are worth a look. But today, it’s the one I can’t take my eyes off of.
| Meagen's Picks Meagen McMillan | Senior Consignment Director, Illustration Art
Edward St. John Gorey Finding Out, At the Top of My Voice and Other Poems book interior, 1970
I believed I owned every book illustrated by Edward Gorey—but it seems I overlooked this one. Thankfully, I’ve now remedied that. Among all the illustrations in the children’s book At the Top of My Voice and Other Poems by Felice Holman, I’m especially drawn to the simplicity of Gorey’s approach to this particular poem. The steady rhythm and repetition of the stanzas are echoed in the illustration, with Gorey using restraint to enrich and elevate the poem’s meaning, reminding us that all of life is a matter of perspective.
Tom DuBois Mac Tonight, McDonalds advertisement, 1986
The Mac Tonight campaign was among the first to market fast food beyond its daytime, family-friendly image, repositioning it as a late-night destination for young adults. Rather than a quirky mascot like Taco Bell’s chihuahua declaring "Yo Quiero Taco Bell," McDonald’s introduced a moon-headed crooner singing a parody of Mack the Knife. Arist Tom Dubois brought the character to life with a blend of absurdity, boldness, and playful charm. It is a classic over the top piece that truly speaks to the intense late 1980s advertisement wars.
James Gurney Brachio Barn, Dinotopia: The World Beneath book interior, 1995
Blending imaginative world-building with uplifting themes and unforgettable art, Dinotopia has inspired a passionate global following since its debut. James Gurney’s background in archaeology and his work with National Geographic infuse the series with vivid realism, evident in the rich detail, light, and atmosphere of this scene. As someone who grew up immersed in her father’s National Geographic and torn between dreams of archaeology and paleontology, I was naturally captivated by the wonder of Gurney’s world. Who doesn’t love dinosaurs, complex world-building, and poignant storylines with relatable characters! For any child of the 90s or just a child at heart, this is a rare opportunity to have a piece of artwork directly from James Gurney!
| Ezriel's Picks Ezriel Wilson | Cataloguer, Illustration Art
Patrick Nagel Untitled (Close Up - Heidi Sorenson), 1983
The name Patrick Nagel immediately evokes for me a nostalgic need for big hair, sharp made-up features, and the soft hum of Rio "as she dances in the sand." So it’s been a thrill to work with three fresh-to-the-market canvases that take you all the way back to the easel in Patrick Nagel’s studio. These acrylic works, each with a smaller variant produced for Playboy’s "Playboy Advisor" section, depicts glamourous Nagel models including Playmates Tracy Vacarro and Heidi Sorenson each with a fixed and bold gaze. These sultry women strike a pose, appearing frozen in time with their eyes on the viewer, hungry almost... like wolves. Nagel, in each of these pieces, has not only rendered a beautiful woman for us to look at, but a beautiful woman to be looked at by. Not only epic in their glamour, they are also epic in size with Close Up measuring 48 x 40 inches, each of these much larger than what we’re used to from album covers and posters, and are much bigger than what we see in Playboy where variants of these images were published. They are not to be missed.
Ian Miller Long After Midnight paperback cover, 1978
I am always a huge fan of our paperback cover offerings in each sale, but nothing gets me more excited than cover art for one of my favorite writers, the prolific man of science fiction himself—Ray Bradbury. Ian Miller’s Long After Midnight paperback cover is a mixed-media work on board that pairs Miller’s talents perfectly with Bradbury’s fiction. In this work, Miller’s many abstract faces, stylized shapes, and intricate details build a layered image, much like Bradbury’s seven stories, which blend science fiction, fantasy, and horror. This spring, we have a wonderful selection of paperback cover artworks by a variety of artists—add this and other depictions of fiction to your collection today!
Sincerely,
|  | Sarahjane Blum Director of Illustration Art SarahjaneB@HA.com (214) 409-1549
|  | Meagen McMillan Senior Consignment Director, Illustration Art MeagenM@HA.com (214) 409-1546
|  | Ezriel Wilson Cataloguer, Illustration Art EzrielW@HA.com (214) 409-1112