An unguarded portrait “moment” of film legend Mary Pickford by the artist. Several variants on the web claim a 1928 date for the photographic sitting. Charles Sheldon produced an oil painting of Pickford  sold by Heritage Auctions in 2011.

Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood career that spanned five decades, Pickford was one of the most popular actresses of the silent film era. Beginning her film career in 1909, by 1916 Pickford became Hollywood’s first millionaire, and at the height of her career had complete creative control of her films and was one of the most recognizable women in the world. Due to her popularity, unprecedented international fame, and success as an actress and businesswoman, she was known as the “Queen of the Movies”. She was a significant figure in the development of film acting and is credited with having defined the ingénue type in cinema, a persona that also earned her the nickname “America’s Sweetheart”. -Wikipedia (2025) continues

Charles Gates Sheldon: 1882-1961

American illustrator and amateur photographer.

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1882 (1.) and a 1901 graduate of Springfield (MA) High School, where his already accomplished illustrations were featured full-page in The Pnyx class yearbook, Charles Sheldon would go on to become an important American illustrator who embraced photography in aiding his artistic work.

Sheldon is perhaps best known today as the creator of the “Breck Girl”, being hired by Breck shampoo in 1936: …“to draw women for their advertisements. Sheldon’s early portraits for Breck were done in pastels, with a soft focus and halos of light and color surrounding them. He created romantic images of feminine beauty and purity.” (2.)

The following biography and background of the artist is courtesy of the now closed Grapefruit Moon Gallery in Minneapolis, MN, which acquired at an unknown date part of the Charles Sheldon estate, including examples of his original artwork and: “a large suitcase of 5″ by 7″ stills all taken by Charles Sheldon”:

Charles Sheldon was a prolific and gifted early 20th century illustrator who specialized in glamorous portraiture that graced the covers of early movie magazines and advertising in the art nouveau and art deco styles. After studying at the Art Students League, he went to Paris to study under the legendary Alphonse Mucha. Upon his return to America, Sheldon set up a studio at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

In 1918 Sheldon received his first pin-up commission, a series of ads for La Vogue lingerie. He soon began working on advertising campaigns for Fox Footery as well as creating covers for Collier’s Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post and Photoplay.

By 1921 he was contributing high fashion portraits to Woman’s Home Companion and Theater magazine. Famous women all over the world arranged to sit for portraits in his studio in Carnegie Hall in New York.

The pastels he created for Photoplay from 1925 to 1930 included glamorous depictions of Hollywood film stars like Clara Bow, Mae West, Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo, Gilda Gray, Mary Pickford, and numerous other Hollywood enchantresses. Unlike many movie magazine illustrators, who primarily worked off of publicity photos, many of these stars sat for Sheldon personally. Along with his work for Photoplay, the artist worked for Screenland, Movie Classic and Radio Digest magazines.

More on Sheldon’s photographic archive:

Sheldon maintained a studio at Carnegie Hall in New York City during the 1920s-30s, and photographed the glamorous Hollywood film stars of the era for his cover portrait work. Stars who sat for Sheldon include: Jean Harlow, Clara Bow, Marion Davies, Gloria Swanson, Pola Negri, Olive Borden, Mary Pickford, and literally dozens of others. What makes this collection so interesting is these stills were never meant for public consumption, they were taken to be used for his pastel portraiture work. Many are unscripted – Sheldon was an amateur photographer essentially and it is unique to see such glamorous stars posed often times so informally. Part of Sheldon’s talent was a knack for convincing his artist’s models and leading ladies to pose for him partially undressed or fully nude–emulating the spirit of NYC’s Ziegfeld Follies and other burlesque revues which had taken Manhattan by storm during the Roaring 20s.

1. Charles Gates Sheldon: gravestone: Find a Grave memorial accessed January, 2025.
2. Breck Shampoo: history: Wikipedia, accessed January, 2025