Nov 18, 2009 - Sale 2196

Sale 2196 - Lot 152

Price Realized: $ 2,040
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000
LESLIE RAGAN (1897-1972) NEW YORK CENTRAL SYSTEM / FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE. Calendar back. 1946.
21 1/2x16 inches, 54x40 cm.
Condition A- / B+: replaced bottom edge.
Leslie Ragan was born in Iowa, and although he was largely a self taught artist he did study briefly at the Cumming School of Art in Des Moines and the Art Institute in Chicago. He designed posters for the United States during the Second World War, but his largest account was with the New York Central Lines. "His work exemplified the American taste for realistic depiction while highlighting the natural environment for dramatic effect . . . Ragan's sense of composition and refined wash technique made his best images burst with reflected light" (Zega p. 95). The New York Central Line commissioned a different image every year to adorn their calendars.