TOP BID $4,200,000

for a November 21, 1914, cover for by influential German-born artist Joseph Christian, where he set the bar for illustrators like Norman Rockwell. The cover was his oeuvre, and children a frequent subject. Viewed as the father of magazine design, he made the case for narrative simplicity: “A cover is a poster; and more related to murals, even sculptures, than to illustration. It should, therefore, tell its story on one plane, be without realistic perspective and distance….”