Jill DeGroff Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1954 -

Jill DeGroff is a fine artist and sought-after caricaturist of the craft cocktail era with a passionate cult following. Inspired by Al Hirschfeld's illustrations of speakeasies in his 1932 book Manhattan Oases, she began painting and sketching in bars and jazz clubs over two decades ago, often accompanying her husband, Dale DeGroff, the James Beard award-winning mixologist and author of The Craft of the Cocktail (and its recent update The New Craft of the Cocktail) and with whom she co-founded the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans in 2004. Her book, Lush Life Portraits from the Bar, (New York, 2009) is an anthology of the colorful characters she met in bars around the world and the tales they told.

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    • JILL DEGROFF (1954-) "The 21 Club." [SPEAKEASIES / COCKTAILS]
      Jun. 24, 2021

      JILL DEGROFF (1954-) "The 21 Club." [SPEAKEASIES / COCKTAILS]

      Est: $2,500 - $3,500

      JILL DEGROFF (1954-) "The 21 Club." Acrylic on canvas, 2020. 1015x765 mm; 40x30 inches. Signed lower right. Jill DeGroff is a fine artist and sought-after caricaturist of the craft cocktail era with a passionate cult following. Inspired by Al Hirschfeld's illustrations of speakeasies in his 1932 book Manhattan Oases, she began painting and sketching in bars and jazz clubs over two decades ago, often accompanying her husband, Dale DeGroff, the James Beard award-winning mixologist and author of The Craft of the Cocktail (and its recent update The New Craft of the Cocktail) and with whom she co-founded the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans in 2004. Her book, Lush Life Portraits from the Bar, (New York, 2009) is an anthology of the colorful characters she met in bars around the world and the tales they told. This painting captures the spirit of the legendary speakeasy-turned-landmark restaurant that opened its doors at 21 West 52nd Street in 1929 and was famous for its 35 colorful jockey sculptures that lined its entrance. One of the city's most celebrated hot spots of the pre- and post-Prohibition eras, its regulars included Ernest Hemingway, Mae West, Mayor Jimmy Walker, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford, and was a must-visit stop for every presidential candidate beginning with FDR. During Prohibition, it was equipped with an elaborate system of levers that were used to tip the shelves of the bar, sweeping the liquor bottles through a chute leading into the city's sewers and reserved a private bar in the basement for Mayor Walker that included a secret wine cellar accessible only through a hidden door disguised as a brick wall that opened into the basement of the adjacent building. Though closed indefinitely during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, its current owners, the French luxury firm conglomerate LVMH, announced they are planning to reopen "21" at some point in a new, reimagined form with a nod to its distinctive past.

      Swann Auction Galleries
    • JILL DEGROFF (1954- ) Joseph Mitchell at Sloppy Louie’s.
      Jun. 24, 2021

      JILL DEGROFF (1954- ) Joseph Mitchell at Sloppy Louie’s.

      Est: $2,500 - $3,500

      JILL DEGROFF (1954- ) Joseph Mitchell at Sloppy Louie's. Acrylic on canvas, 2020. 1015x763 mm; 40x30 inches. Signed lower left. In this portrait caricature based on a photograph by Mitchell's wife, Therese, DeGroff remembers the famous literary chronicler of New York City's underbelly, gritty characters, and waterways at his favorite eatery. Beloved by dock workers and white collar workers alike, the legendary South Street Seaport fish restaurant was located in the former Fulton Ferry Hotel. Mitchell immortalized Sloppy Louie's and its owner, his friend Louis Morini, in his famous work Up in the Old Hotel (1952). In the artist's words: "To better understand the world, Joe followed the working hands; the folks who were an integral part of the sea's after-life, be it working the Fulton Fish Market, preparing food from it, or just being in it day after day, year after year . . . he needed to stay connected to this rapidly disappearing world. His glory was to get up close to humanity, to `Get in the habit of looking at people', he said; 'that's the sum of it, really.'" Jill DeGroff is a fine artist and sought-after caricaturist of the craft cocktail era with a passionate cult following. Inspired by Al Hirschfeld's illustrations of speakeasies in his 1932 book Manhattan Oases, she began painting and sketching in bars and jazz clubs over two decades ago, often accompanying her husband, Dale DeGroff, the James Beard award-winning mixologist and author of The Craft of the Cocktail (and its recent update The New Craft of the Cocktail) and with whom she co-founded the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans in 2004. Her book, Lush Life Portraits from the Bar, (New York, 2009) is an anthology of the colorful characters she met in bars around the world and the tales they told.

      Swann Auction Galleries
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