Description: Escaping from Spanish captors

Comment: I think that this picture “works” on a number of levels. Particularly for me… and don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that John McDermott invented any of these things… the choice of the saturated blue hue throughout the picture lets us understand that it's deep into the night but without rendering things so dark as to make them hard to decipher. After all, like most stories of “daughter[s] of Cuban rebel leaders” veracity doesn't necessarily last all that long. Often reality is a lot less romantic that what an illustrator can do with it. Here's a case in point. I also find that the composition works really well in terms of depicting the heart of the action while still making us sympathetic to our heroine's exploits. A copy of the magazine accompanies the purchase of the artwork.

Price: $1,450 (+ $70 domestic shipping)