Original Artwork

1963, Original artwork, acrylic on art board

Sanders drew the crowds at the entrance to the famous 24 hour race, before working up the piece later in his studio.

The original painting art board is approximately 76 cm wide x 50 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

1961, casein tempera on board, 39cm x 64cm

One of Johnson’s most sensuous and stylish compositions, and the earliest surviving Johnson's work using casein tempera paint which we have come across. Casein tempera paint was used by illustrators before the invention and availability of acrylic paint. This painting is an exceptional and very rare example of Johnson's early work. 

The painting was used for the cover of "A Crowd of Voices" the first full length novel by Richard Lortz, a highly regarded writer of short stories, novels, plays, and TV shows. His 1972 Broadway play 'Voices' was made into a film starring David Hemmings, Gayle Hunnicutt and Lynn Farleigh the following year. 

"A Crowd of Voices" was published by Four Square Books in the year it was acquired by Times Mirror Company of Los Angeles and re-branded as the National English Library (NEL), now a cult imprint of  1960s and 70s paperback pulp fiction.  

c.1965, gouache on board 55cm x 40cm

Cover illustration for the novel by critically acclaimed author Erskine Caldwell.  Briefly married to the eminent photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White, Caldwell did not shy away from exposing the poverty, racism and other social ills endemic in the South of the US during the 20^th century

The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

The artwork is sold with an original The Last Night of Summer paperback that features the Renato Fratini illustration.  

c.1960s, acrylic and pencil and board,  39 cm wide x 55 cm tall

Above Suspicion, a 1941 novel by Helen MacInnes was made into a film in 1943, starring Joan Crawford.  This is an example of how De Gaspari often used blocks of colour to focus his cover illustrations and his distinctive experiments with texture: layering different types of paper and sometimes even scratching the surfaces or rubbing sand into images.

The artwork is sold with an original Above Suspicion paperback that features the De Gaspari illustration.  

The original painting is approximately 39 cm wide x 55 cm tall.

c.1962, acrylic on board

Glendon Swarthout’s self-confessed ‘big book’ about a little town in Michigan was published in 1962. Though a more melodramatic image was eventually used for the cover, this version by Fratini uses introspective figures and symbols of authority set against a burning yellow background to imply violent secrets lurking below the town’s composed surface.

The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

c.1962/3, casein tempera on board, 33cm x 43cm

This illustration for a magazine story in Woman’s Realm, is an early surviving example of Johnson's work using casein tempera paint. Casein tempera paint was used by illustrators before the invention and availability of acrylic paint. This painting is an exceptional and rare example of Johnson's early work. 

Johnson used the designer, model and actress Suzy Kendall to model the girl in the striped dress.  Kendall’s films included such Sixties classics as Thunderball, To Sir With Love, Up the Junction and Fear is the Key.  She was briefly married to Dudley Moore, remaining lifelong friends after the marriage ended.

1966, mixed media,  25 cm wide x 37 cm tall

A Perry Mason novel written by Erle Stanley Gardner in 1943 and made into a film in 1935. Coppola applies his modernist approach to the pulp novel and, inspired by legendary art director Germano Facetti, elevates it to sit easily alongside Penguin’s classic literary fiction. The montage of jarring, mismatched imagery, creates an uneasy composition which has much in common with fine-art abstraction.

The artwork is sold with an original The Case of the Curious Bride paperback that features the Coppola illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 25 cm wide x 37 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

c.1969, acrylic on board    

Alongside painting, Johnson’s other passion is racing.  He had a driver’s contract with both Esso and Dunlop and drove Lotus cars competitively.  A huge admirer of John Surtees - still the only person to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels - Johnson depicts Surtees in the cockpit of Jim Hall’s 1969 Chaparral 2H.  Originally a Lola car designed by Eric Broadley but later used by Chaparral, it has the same chassis as the Ford GT40 noted for its Le Mans 24 Hours wins. Surtees raced this car during the 1969 Can-Am season.  Jim Hall (former race driver and part-owner of Chaparral) stands alongside the car beside a team mechanic.

The original painting is approximately 50 cm wide x 50 cm tall.The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

1967, gouache on board, 56cm X 81cm

Cover illustration commissioned by Corgi for Mickey Spillane’s ninth novel in the Mike Hammer series, first published in 1966.   

The artwork is sold with an original The Twisted Thing paperback that features the Fratini illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 56 cm wide x 81 cm tall. 

c.1961, casein tempera on board, 38cm x 51cm

A rare, early casein illustration for Woman’s Own – typical of the popular women’s romantic fiction of that time.

The male model used for this painting was Michael Johnsons friend and colleague, the hugely successful  illustrator Renato Fratini. 

1967, gouache on board, 56cm X 81cm

Cover illustration commissioned by Corgi for a Mickey Spillane novel first published in 1965.  The “pulpiest” of all pulp fiction writers, Spillane clearly hit on a formula that worked.  His books have sold more than 225 million copies worldwide and seven of his books feature in the 15 bestselling books of all time in America.  Eye-catching cover illustrations were critical to the sales strategy of moving large quantities of books off shelves quickly and, as a result, illustrators had extraordinary impact.

c.1966, acrylic on board, 54cm x 61cm

Concept illustration. The double portrait shows Johnson’s technique to great effect with one of the faces a ghostly reflection of the other. His signature abstract lines give relief to the central portraits while the flower perfectly references late ‘60s vogue. The reverse of this illustration has a second image of twin nudes.

1966, mixed media

Copolla was commissioned by legendary Penguin art director Germano Facetti and under his guidance was inspired to create a series of ground breaking covers. 

A cold war thriller written in 1952 by Paul Gallico is modernised by Penguin in 1966. Jarring colour, broken perspective and clustered layers of precise draughtsmanship highlight the story of a mistaken spy broken by brainwashing and interrogation.

The artwork is sold with an original Trial by Terror paperback that features the Coppola illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 25 cm wide x 39 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

1967, gouache on board, 56cm X 81cm

Cover illustration commissioned by Corgi for Mickey Spillane’s 5th novel in the Mike Hammer series, first published in 1951.  Spillane started out as a comic book writer, creating adventures for superheroes like Captain Marvel, Superman, Batman and Captain America.  An earlier version of the Mike Hammer character was originally intended to be a comic book detective.  The colours and stylised poses used by Fratini in his cover illustrations don’t move the books too far from the comic book tradition.

The artwork is sold with an original The Big Kill paperback that features the Fratini illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 56 cm wide x 81 cm tall.

1966, mixed media

Copolla was commissioned by legendary Penguin art director Germano Facetti and under his guidance was inspired to create a series of ground breaking covers. \

Penguin’s 1966 reprint of C.P. Snow’s 1956 novel is a perfect example of Coppola’s use of montage, creating crisp graphic lines out of textured art work and high contrast black and white photography set on arresting primary colours.

The artwork is sold with an original Homecomings paperback that features the Coppola illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 26 cm wide x 35 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

c.1967, gouache on board, 54cm x 46cm

Fratini produced a number of options for Mickey Spillane’s second novel in the Tiger Mann, secret agent, series; this is the option that was selected for publication by Corgi Crime Books. Another version which did not make the final cut is also exhibited here.  The character of Tiger Mann was believed to have been created by Spillane to compete with the popularity of James Bond.

The original artwork is sold with an original copy of the Bloody Sunrise paperback featuring the Renato Fratini illustration. 

c.1966, acrylic on board, 40cm x 59cm

Concept illustration for Willie Landels, Art Director and then Editor at Queen (now Harpers Bazaar) magazine. Johnson’s signature abstract lines add dynamism and a sense of movement to the couple.  This sculptural, animated quality was liked by Landels who had Nevertheless, he advised “more detail – more precision” if Johnson wanted to win more fashion illustration work.  Landels and Johnson developed a productive professional partnership

c. 1967, gouache on board, 56cm x 43cm

Cover illustration commissioned by Corgi for Mickey Spillane's 8th novel in the Mike Hammer series "The Snake". A film based on the novel was planned by Robert Fellow but never made. It was carried out by Fratini at the same time as the others in the same series.

The artwork is sold with an original The Snake paperback that features the Fratini illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 56 cm wide x 43 cm tall. 

c.1965, acrylic on board

Cover illustration for Penguin reprint of Frederic Wakeman's scabrous take on New York's postwar ad industry.  It was one of the best-selling books of 1946 and reprinted many times thereafter.  In 1947 it was made into a film starring Clark Cable, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr - her debut in an American film.  Fratini's narrative brilliance captures the adulterous relationship which forces the hero to see how miserable he is. One for Don Draper's bookshelf.  

The artwork is sold with an original The Hucksters paperback that features the Fratini illustration.  

Also used as the cover for ‘Les Chemins De La Vie.’ by Rosamond Marshall and for ‘The Left Hand Is The Dreamer’ by Nancy Wilson Ross. 

The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall

1967, acrylic on board,  40 cm wide x 34 cm tall

Alistair MacLean’s 1961 thriller was republished by Fontana Books in 1967. Fratini depicted the ‘steel jungle’ oil-platform setting of the novel on a choppy ocean. The story of revenge is expressed in the struggle of the couple in the foreground.

The artwork is sold with an original Fear is the Key paperback that features the Fratini illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 34 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.