Colorful image from a series of "College Curses" by Hibberd Van Buren Kline. Entitled "Beauty," it shows a young man in a red and white striped suit with a small dog, hat, cigarette, fancy shoes, and cane with tied ribbon bow. He is wearing a beauty meet medal on his right lapel. A powder duster is to his left bears the motto "Vanitas," a joke on college emblems that incorporate the word "Veritas."

Hibberd Van Buren Kline was an illustrator, etcher and painter. He was a member of the Salamagundi Club and American Federation of the Arts, and a professor at Syracuse University. Kline created book illustrations, posters, and contributed to national magazines. Among his book illustrations were those for A Geography of Man by noted geographer Preston E. James, first published in 1949, and reissued several times. His works are in the collection of the Library of Congress.

Reference:

Falk, Peter Hastings, ed. Who Was Who in American Art. Madison, Connecticut: Sound View Press, 1985. p. 342.