JOHN W. GATENBY "CHRISTMAS IN ARIZONA" ADVERTISING DRAWING 1940'S TUCSON ESTATE

Description

From a Tucson estate filled with heirloom local interest family memorabilia is this I believe 1940's or so graphite and gouache drawing of "Christmas in Arizona" by John W. Gatenby,  pretty much every bit of what you want from a notable  Depression era and immediate post war illustrator. Santa looks great and there is  "JOHN W. / GATENBY" at lower right  in the characteristic and exactly correct manner. There are printing or publication notes in red ink around the image recto, and "Original / .00" annotated in pencil to sheet verso .  John William Gatenby Jr. (1906-1975) was born in Cicero, Illinois, accomplishing  most of his formal art training in Chicago. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, and the American Academy of Art. The peak of his advertising career encompassed the 1930's through the 1950's or so, when he designed projects and advertising campaigns for the U.S. Steel Corporation, the William Wrigley Company, Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, Halliburton, Abbot Laboratories, Frederick Stears & Company, and many other top tier accounts. Gatenby's John Gatenby Studios and (in Tucson) the Gatenby Estudio de Arte were well known within the trade - The Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts, the Chicago Guild of Free Lance Artists, the National Society for Contemporary Art, and the Tucson Fine Arts Association were among his elected memberships.  Sonoran Desert depictions are often encountered in Gatenby's Southern Arizona renderings. While I do not know if the offered example was intended for a national magazine or some well funded local advertising effort, the cropping notations indicate it was genuinely published somewhere. Condition is quite good though be aware not absolutely pristine perfect, the image itself visually well preserved. Tiny pinholes at the extreme left and right sheet edges are from the original attaching to Gatenby's easel or work surface. There is a slightly angled vertical crease faintly visible within the extreme right side of the image. While this is not very unobtrusive when viewing the artwork (and will be even less so when matted), it can be seen to sheet verso. There are some light storage bends at the corner tips, well outside and away from the drawing area. There are a couple of handling cockles, also a very short (about 3/16 in.) closed edge tear at center bottom . A few tonal specks and minor storage soil verso from decades in a drawer and some ancient tape remnants (also verso) complete the picture. I'm nitpicking for the obsessive here, so read between the lines - sensitively dressed, this old Southwestern advertising gem will still sing on whatever wall it graces. Gatenby's drawing is about 14 1/8 in. horizontal (measured from where the mountains in the background end at left and right) and 9 3/4 in. vertical (using the vertical red ink crop lines seen at the extreme right edge of the sheet). Sheet size is about 18 1/8 in. horizontal and 14 1/4 in. vertical If your taste runs to advertising illustration of the regional sort, and especially if  are within your lexicon, this will have great meaning for you. Note: I'm this as a final sale auction like the old days, so feel free to ask any questions and bid accordingly.
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