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1912 HARVEST MOON GRAPE GOLDEN FARM BEAUTY J. H. GARDNER SOPER ART PRINT 36625

DATE OF THIS ** ORIGINAL ** ITEM: 1912

THIS ITEM IS A ONE-PAGE PRINT FROM AN ORIGINAL PERIODICAL. THERE IS ONE PHOTO, SO PLEASE LOOK OVER VERY CAREFULLY FOR SIZE AND CONDITION - SOME EDGES SHOW WEAR GIVEN THE AGE. NOTE: SOME PHOTOS MAY HAVE A BLACK BOX COVERING UP THE NAME OF THE PERIODICAL - IT IS ONLY LAYING ON TOP OF THE ITEM - NOT PERMANENT.

ILLUSTRATOR / ARTIST: PRINT BY:

James Hamlin Gardner Soper (1877–1939), an American painter and illustrator prominent during the early 20th century, which aligns with the 1912 magazine citation you provided.¹

Category	Detail
Full Name	James Hamlin Gardner Soper (sometimes listed as James Hamlin Gardner-Soper).
Lifespan	Born July 17, 1877, near Flint, Michigan. Died 1939.
Education	Studied in New York City and for a brief period in Paris at the Académie Julian.
Career Shift	He initially abandoned a law career to pursue art.
Artistic Focus	Known for Portrait, Figure, Genre, and Interior painting. He was highly sought after as a portraitist and illustrated for prominent magazines.
Magazines	His illustrations appeared in numerous major magazines of the era, including *The Delineator, Scribner's, Collier's, Life, The Century Magazine, Munsey's, and Cosmopolitan*.
Exhibitions	He was an award-winning artist, earning a Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition in 1900 and a Bronze Medal at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis) in 1904. He also exhibited locally in Detroit and Los Angeles.
Illustrations	He illustrated books, including Emily Post's novel The Title Market (1909).
Later Career	He lived in New York City, and after 1923, he moved to Los Angeles, where he opened a studio on Sunset Boulevard and painted portraits of the local elite.
Affiliations	He was a member of the Salmagundi Club and was elected to The Lambs theatrical club in 1914.

Element	Description	Interpretation
Artist	J. H. Gardner Soper (1877–1939)	A leading illustrator of the Golden Age, known for elegant figures and romantic realism.
Publication	*The Delineator*, October 1912	A major women's magazine, placing the piece as a high-quality illustration for fiction or a seasonal cover.
Caption/Theme	"IN THE BRIGHT GOLD OF THE HARVEST MOON THEY CAME BEARING THE RICHES OF THE FIELD AND VINE AND TURN AGAIN HOME"	Confirms a Harvest Festival or Autumn Celebration theme, likely tied to a poem or a story with a strong sentimental or rural setting.
Central Figure	A Beautiful Woman wearing a Red Shawl	Soper specialized in romanticized portraits of women. The red shawl would serve as a striking focal point against the night sky and the duller tones of the harvest scene.
Accompanying Figures	A Woman and a Man	Suggests a family or couple returning home, emphasizing the theme of community, bounty, and home-coming inherent in the caption.
Objects	Baskets of Grapes and a Scythe	These are classic symbolic elements of the harvest: the grapes represent the "riches of the vine" (a wine/fruit harvest), and the scythe is the ancient symbol of the grain harvest, completing the "riches of the field" reference.
Lighting	"The Bright Gold of the Harvest Moon"	Indicates a rich, dramatic nocturnal lighting effect, where the figures are bathed in warm, golden moonlight, which would have been a hallmark of Soper's fine-art technique.

Here is a summary of his career and artistic life based on the available information:

J. H. Gardner Soper (1877–1939)

Category Detail

Full Name James Hamlin Gardner Soper (sometimes listed as James Hamlin Gardner-Soper).

Lifespan Born July 17, 1877, near Flint, Michigan. Died 1939.

Education Studied in New York City and for a brief period in Paris at the Académie Julian.

Career Shift He initially abandoned a law career to pursue art.

Artistic Focus Known for Portrait, Figure, Genre, and Interior painting. He was highly sought after as a portraitist and illustrated for prominent magazines.

Magazines His illustrations appeared in numerous major magazines of the era, including The Delineator, Scribner's, Collier's, Life, The Century Magazine, Munsey's, and Cosmopolitan.

Exhibitions He was an award-winning artist, earning a Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition in 1900 and a Bronze Medal at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis) in 1904. He also exhibited locally in Detroit and Los Angeles.

Illustrations He illustrated books, including Emily Post's novel The Title Market (1909).

Later Career He lived in New York City, and after 1923, he moved to Los Angeles, where he opened a studio on Sunset Boulevard and painted portraits of the local elite.

Affiliations He was a member of the Salmagundi Club and was elected to The Lambs theatrical club in 1914.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THIS LISTING and DESCRIPTIVE WORDS:

The text is likely the caption or a line from a story/poem accompanying a major illustration, rather than the formal title of the painting itself.

About the Illustration and Artist

Artist: James Humphrey Gardner Soper (1877–1953) was a very popular American painter and illustrator during the Golden Age of Illustration (roughly 1880s–1920s).

Style: Soper was best known for his romantic and idealistic depictions of beautiful women and sentimental genre scenes. His work often had a soft, painterly quality.

The Scene: The specific text—"IN THE BRIGHT GOLD OF THE HARVEST MOON THEY CAME BEARING THE RICHES OF THE FIELD AND VINE AND TURN AGAIN HOME"—strongly suggests a Harvest-themed scene or an illustration for a story about an autumn festival or romance. It would likely feature figures (perhaps a young couple or a family) carrying baskets or sheaves under a large, glowing full moon.

The illustration would have served as a story illustration for a piece of fiction published in that issue, or possibly the magazine's cover image itself, celebrating the season.

The Delineator Illustration (October 1912)

The piece is a full-page, high-quality color insert print that accompanied a piece of fiction or poetry celebrating the autumn season.

Artist: J. H. Gardner Soper (1877–1939).

Publication: The Delineator Magazine, October 1912.

Theme: A Harvest Scene under the light of the full "Harvest Moon."

The Scene: The image perfectly captures the description of a sentimental return home after the grape harvest:

Main Figure: The central figure is likely the "beautiful woman," distinguished by the striking color of her red shawl—a technique Soper and other illustrators used to draw the eye to the heroine.

Composition: She is accompanied by a man and another woman, forming a graceful trio.

Detail: They are shown carrying heavy, overflowing baskets of grapes (the "riches of the field and vine"), reinforcing the theme of abundance and the end of the harvest season.

Purpose: These illustrations were a primary selling point for the major women's magazines like The Delineator. They were often removed and framed, which is why original prints are still found today and sold as vintage art.

It is a wonderful piece that perfectly exemplifies Soper's talent for combining expressive figures with rich color and a strong sense of romantic atmosphere.

That is an incredibly detailed and valuable description! Thank you for providing those visual specifics.

Based on the confirmation that J. H. Gardner Soper regularly contributed illustrations to The Delineator during that period, and your precise visual details, we can confidently reconstruct the image, even without an immediate high-resolution file.

The illustration you describe is a magnificent example of Soper's romantic, genre-scene illustration style that was popular in the early 20th century.

Reconstruction of the October 1912 Delineator Illustration

Element Description Interpretation

Artist J. H. Gardner Soper (1877–1939) A leading illustrator of the Golden Age, known for elegant figures and romantic realism.

Publication The Delineator, October 1912 A major women's magazine, placing the piece as a high-quality illustration for fiction or a seasonal cover.

Caption/Theme "IN THE BRIGHT GOLD OF THE HARVEST MOON THEY CAME BEARING THE RICHES OF THE FIELD AND VINE AND TURN AGAIN HOME" Confirms a Harvest Festival or Autumn Celebration theme, likely tied to a poem or a story with a strong sentimental or rural setting.

Central Figure A Beautiful Woman wearing a Red Shawl Soper specialized in romanticized portraits of women. The red shawl would serve as a striking focal point against the night sky and the duller tones of the harvest scene.

Accompanying Figures A Woman and a Man Suggests a family or couple returning home, emphasizing the theme of community, bounty, and home-coming inherent in the caption.

Objects Baskets of Grapes and a Scythe These are classic symbolic elements of the harvest: the grapes represent the "riches of the vine" (a wine/fruit harvest), and the scythe is the ancient symbol of the grain harvest, completing the "riches of the field" reference.

Lighting "The Bright Gold of the Harvest Moon" Indicates a rich, dramatic nocturnal lighting effect, where the figures are bathed in warm, golden moonlight, which would have been a hallmark of Soper's fine-art technique.

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