Member Since September 2004
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John Held, Jr. - Flapper + Jazz Age Illustration - Liberty Magazine 1931

Location: Held, Jr., John
Artist: John Held (All)

Location: Held, Jr., John
Title: John Held, Jr. - Flapper + Jazz Age Illustration - Liberty Magazine 1931
Artist: John Held (All)
Media Type: Pen and Ink
Art Type: Illustration
For Sale Status: NFS
Views: 3553
Likes on CAF: 8
Favorited on CAF: 2
Comments: 8
Added to Site: 9/30/2020

My lovely wife gave me an early birthday present, this absolutely wonderful John Held, Jr. illustration from 1931. I've longed for a nice Jazz Age piece for years and this one really fits the bill. That beautiful line of Held's, combined with his wonderful figure work and sense of design. Just marvelous. The piece is from October 17, 1931 issue of Liberty magazine,and is from Held's series Civilization's Progress, with both images subtitled, "Music Hath Charms".

As you can see from the tearsheet in the additional image, this is a before-and-after type piece. The caption for the before image is "When a Girl was Won with a Mandolin and Guitar", while the caption for the current image is: "The Modern Girl Demands a Symphonic Dance Band". As far as I'm concerned, it's pretty much a perfect Held Jazz Age piece, with some lovely delicate ink washes complimenting the ink lines.

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Member Since: September 2004
Last Login: April 2026
Ebay Id: robart
Website: https://freeassociationfunnies.com/
Country: UNITED STATES
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Ben Chamberlain Member Since 2016

Posted On 9/30/2020

Wow! Fantastic. : )

Dan F Member Since 2004

Posted On 10/1/2020

Can't do better than that one!

Dries D Member Since 2008

Posted On 10/2/2020

Great style, reminds me of Swarte.

kent mansley Member Since 2015

Posted On 10/2/2020

Yep, that is pure perfection! One of the best Held pieces I've seen. Huge congrats and happy birthday!

Jeff Singh Member Since 2004

Posted On 10/2/2020

Happy Birthday Rob and a great way to commemorate it. I love the style and theme. I had previously associate this style with Sterrett who might have predated Held's style or perhaps the other way around. Certainly other artists of the period had similar aesthetics affecting their works including Erte, Fritz Lang and people working in other media. Having recently written a bit about Flappers for the CFA-APA I am familiar with how Held and his wife Zelda embodied the Flapper aesthetic and lifestyle. Very cool piece of history with a lot of context.

Ben Friedman Member Since 2006

Posted On 10/3/2020

This is beautiful. Congrats, and happy birthday!!

George H Member Since 2009

Posted On 12/21/2024

Wonderful illustration! I love seeing the music elements.

Johnny C. Member Since 2010

Posted On 1/7/2026

I can't imagine two finer Jazz Age illustrations by Held. These are Exactly what you think of when you think of Held. Amazing pair!

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John Held, Jr. - Flapper + Jazz Age Illustration - Liberty Magazine 1931

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Rob Stolzer

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