Intriguing subject matter, appearing to be a drama unfolding backstage at a French theatre. Oil on canvas, signed lower right. Painting has been inspected under black light and is in excellent overall condition, has been professionally relined and on new stretcher bars, no apparent in-painting, one tiny abrasion upper right edge (see photo details). John Philip Falter was born in Plattsmouth, Nebraska although his family homestead was in Atchison, Kansas. He started his illustration career by selling his first artwork in 1930 to Liberty, a pulp magazine. His career flourished in pulp magazines until he became one of the most noted illustrators for The Saturday Evening Post. John Falter studied art at the Kansas City Art Institute and later moved to New York to get the right exposure and make career contacts. He opened a studio in New Rochelle, New York, which had long been a colony for illustrators, a community that included such artists as Frederic Remington and Norman Rockwell. During the 1970s and 1980s, after a career crisis brought on by the end of illustrated magazines, Falter turned to historical and American western themes, a passion of his. Looking back on his career, Falter commented that he had never painted a painting that he wouldn't like to paint over again; he always saw something he thought he could improve on. His output was prodigious, and by his own reckoning included over 5,000 paintings, many of which hang in museums and eminent collections. Overall Size: 37 5/8 x 46 5/8 in. Sight Size: 31 1/2 x 40 1/2 in.