George Gage’s 1920 oil on canvas painting was used for the cover of "The Door of the Double Dragon", a Romance novel about the China of Yesterday and Today, by Hector Blanding (New York: W.J. Watt and Co., 1920). The art sets the mood for this novel about China -- still an exotic locale for most American readers in 1920. The central character of the story is a young white American woman with reddish hair who goes to China to paint a portrait of the powerful Chinese emperor. Gage combines colorful shades of jade green with giant ornate doors displaying large remarkable gold dragons facing each other. As the woman in white dress, stockings, and shoes opens and walks through the impressive doorway we see a shadowy space beyond our view behind her giving is a hint of the exotic opportunities and mysterious uncertainties of the young female artist's experience in this foreign land. Biographical information about George William Gage is not extensive, but he definitely studied with native Delaware legendary American illustrator and painter Howard Pyle. Gage produced multiple periodical covers including for The Saturday Evening Post and other national magazines. He was also a prolific book illustrator working with publishers like Doubleday, Doran, Morrow Company, H.C. Kinsey, and Farrar & Rinehart. In addition, Gage taught book illustrating at New York's School of Industrial Art. In the later part of his career, he became a skilled portraitist.

Dust Jacket (The Door of the Double Dragon) by George William Gage (American) - Oil on canvas / 1920 - Delaware Art Museum (Wilmington) #womeninart #artwork #art #oilpainting #1920s #GeorgeWilliamGage #RomanceNovel #BookCover #AmericanArtist #womensart #DelawareArtMuseum #HectorBlanding #GeorgeGage