Original Oil Painting of Shirley Temple as "The Littlest Rebel" by Joseph Maturo

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29" (74 cm.) x 24". The impasto-style oil painting depicts Shirley Temple in her role of Virgie Cary in the 1935 film "The Littlest Rebel", posed saucily with hands-on-hips, wearing the famous "sling-shot" dress. The background is in vibrant shades of blue and yellow, and painted at the bottom are galloping horses and troops, depicting a scene from the film. Unsigned, the work is indisputably from the hand of Joseph Maturo. Excellent condition. The Italian-born artist immigrated to America in 1895, employed as an artist for a New York firm which specialized in replica art for a growing middle class, and later worked as an illustrator for popular magazines. By 1934 he was employed by Fox offices in New York to provide paintings for the promotion of their films, notably those of Shirley Temple, including "Curly Top", "Heidi", and this example for "The Littlest Rebel". Maturo had been chosen by the studio for his keen ability to capture the young's signature features. Very few of his original works are known to exist as the artist archives were destroyed by fire some years later. The paintings were then transformed into lithographs and used for various publicity pieces, including the 24 page 22" x 16" promotional brochure included with this painting, whose cover is replicated from the original oil painting. The brochure is filled with clips from newspaper articles, information about the stars, suggestions for promotional events that could be sponsored by theatre owners, and offerings of billboards, posters and give-aways that could be purchased from the studio by the owners.