John LaGatta — Woman in a Yellow Dress

My wife let me pick my own 20th wedding anniversary gift (with her approval of course), and I picked this. In my mind, this is just just a stunning image from one of the top illustrators of the Golden Age. LaGatta was one of the best paid illustrators of his time and published in all the major publications. He was known for painting beautiful, upper-class women, and leading a glamorous lifestyle. It’s hard to understand now how important illustrators were in the early 20th century, but before television many, like LaGatta, were household names and compensated like the top stars of today (LaGatta reportedly made over $100,000 a year when the average annual salary at the time was $2000 - $3000). This appears to be an image for a Laros gowns advertisement — it is painted in oil, beautifully framed, and a large size (34” x 30”). Couldn’t be happier to add this to the collection and look at it everyday.