Love hurts. A young, attractive woman is captured in a moment of peak
drama. She is leaning on her bed in her room, crying, her face grim
with despair. A tear drop is seen below her left eye, and her tensed
body gestures reflect her intense feelings. Legendary illustrator
Gilbert Bundy depicts what appears to be the aftermath of an evening
love encounter gone wrong. Her stylish red coat is thrown to the floor, a
high-heeled shoe cast atop it. Her purse is haphazardly tossed on a
chair. Bundy's quick, loose painting style and light brush are the
result of many studied moments and preliminary sketches. This final work
has the movement and spontaneity that perfectly reflect the narrative.
Signed lower right.
Magazine illustration for "So This is Love," Cosmopolitan, September 1944. 19 x 16 sheet size , unframed

Illustration Art Brogspot
"Bundy returned to the U.S. but never
recaptured the joy in his pre-war art. On the anniversary of his ordeal,
Bundy committed suicide, thereby rejoining his fallen comrades."

Bio from Wikipedia
Gilbert Bundy (1911 – November 21, 1955) was an
American cartoonist and illustrator, particularly for Esquire, Life,
Judge, and The Saturday Evening Post magazines. He killed himself on the
12th anniversary of a deeply traumatic experience as a war artist in
the Battle of Tarawa.
Early life and career

Bundy was born in Centralia, IllinoisHis father was a scout for an
oil company, so they lived in several oil boom towns across Oklahoma,
with Bundy finishing high school in Winfield, Kansas.[1]

Bundy's career started in Kansas City, working for an engraving
company, and then he moved to New York City in 1929, to draw cartoons
for Life and Judge magazines. Bundy's "stylish character studies helped
establish Esquire magazine", which began publishing in 1933. According
to Martin Plimmer, "Bundy's work was painstakingly researched, the
result of numerous life studies, the final version being drawn from
memory to add spontaneity."

Second World War

In the Second World War, Bundy was a volunteer war artist in the
South Pacific, working for Hearst newspapers and King Features
Syndicate.

On November 21, 1943, Bundy was on a small landing craft during the
amphibious landing in the Battle of Tarawa, when a Japanese shell
exploded, leaving him trapped under four dead Marines.[4] The wrecked
craft drifted onto a coral reef that was within range of Japanese
gunners on the island, so Bundy had to hide beneath the bodies for the
remainder of a long day, as enemy bullets and shells hit the craft or
landed nearby.Once night fell, he swam away through shark-infested
waters, and as Hearst newspapers reported, "He was believed dead for
three days. His reappearance startled his Marine mates."

Bundy was sent home to the US to recuperate, and returned to painting
illustrations for "light-hearted romantic stories" for The Saturday
Evening Post and other magazines, but he "remained haunted by his
wartime experience."