Harry BECKHOFF - The Private Angel, Woman's Home Companion story illustration, 1930.

HARRY BECKHOFF (American, 1901-1979)
The Private Angel
Gouache on board
19 x 24 in.
Signed lower center

Caption: "Every evening I toddle out for my Purple Page"

Beckhoff had a very distinctive style among early 20th century illustrators that focused on clean, strong lines and solid colors with little if any shading. His earliest work in the late 1920s was quite reminiscent of John Held Jr's (see his poster work for the 1927 movie, Her Wild Oat) before he soon settled into the more realistic drawing style that he stuck with for the rest of his career. This is an early example of Beckhoff's magazine work, published less than a year after his very first magazine illustration appeared in The Country Gentleman. He had not yet adopted his signature where "HARRY" is written in an arc above the "BECKHOFF". Beckhoff famously started out his illustrations as tiny yet very detailed thumbnail sketches that were smaller than the size of a business card. Back when Walt and Roger Reed published their book, The Illustrator in America: 1880-1980, they offered 200 autographed deluxe edition copies that included an original, signed Beckhoff sketch! If a sketch version of this illustration is in someone's possession out there, I would love to see it!