Sketch for "The Safe Return" and four other original drawings.
(c. 1942). Five pen-and-ink drawings, completed across the fronts and backs of two pieces of stationery. The first, and most recognizable, is a preliminary sketch for "The Safe Return," an oil-on-canvas painting which later appeared in The Saturday Evening Post and as an illustration for Sugarfoot, by Clarence Budington Kelland. The image, which shows a couple embracing, is signed by von Schmidt. It appears on the verso of a piece of stationery from the Hotel Stanford in New York; the recto of that sheet shows a portrait of a woman in a gown. On the second sheet, which appears to have been cut, one side shows a group of soldiers on horseback, and the other shows two men conversing at a table, and, separately, an aviator. Other than light soiling to outermost edges, a fine and discoverable selection of von Schmidt's casual work. Item #31378
Price: $475.00