This original gouache on board painting was created by Henry Clive for use as the cover for the August 6, 1944 issue of William Randolph Hearst’s American Weekly Magazine. Clive created a series of covers for American Weekly using the theme, “Global Glamour”, which highlighted women of different cultures from areas throughout the world during World War II. The title of this cover is “Alaska-Typical Beauties on All Our War Fronts”. This painting is a rare surviving cover painting which depicts a traditional Eskimo girl alongside her sled dog. Note that the painting is inscribed, “To Johnny, Best Regards, Henry Clive”. Apparently, Johnny took care of Clive’s yard as a young man. He requested that Clive pay him with artwork (secretly hoping that he would receive one of Clive’s well-known risqué images, but to his surprise, he instead received this painting of a beautiful, but bundled up young woman).
Henry Clive was born Henry O’Hara in Australia in 1882. During his early career, he supported himself as a magician. He settled in Los Angeles in the 1920’s and starred in a few early silent films. He got his start as an illustrator around 1920, while working for Paramount Films. His artwork appeared on many silent movie posters during the early 1920’s. He became recognized for his paintings of Ziegfeld Girls, as well as some popular Hollywood starlets. Clive later became an art director for Paramount Pictures. His artwork can also be found on various tins bearing the images of the beautiful Hollywood movie stars of the time. Henry Clive did magazine cover work for True Confessions, Screen Play, Theatre Magazine, Smart Set, and American Weekly Magazine (a relationship that lasted for 3 decades). He created several murals that graced the walls of popular Hollywood restaurants in the 1930’s and ‘40’s. He did quite a bit of ad work for Vivaudou and created a few calendar illustrations for the Louis F. Dow Calendar Company, as well. Clive created many of his works in pastels, as well as oils, and quickly took a place alongside Rolf Armstrong and other top illustrators of the time. He was married a total of six times during his lifetime. Henry Clive passed away in 1960.
