Jaro Fabry was an illustrator living and working in New York. He died in 1953 at the age of 41, and as a result, it's pretty difficult to find information about him. I stumbled across this piece, and I was really drawn to the bold, stylized expressions on all the figures. Titled Drunk Man at Party, the double sets of eyes and the visualized motion of the drunk man's head makes the illustration sort of abstract at a glance.
The subtle "weirdness" that these illustrations have are what makes them so compelling. The stylistic interpretations of each face also carry an emotional weight by conveying the social atmosphere of each scene. Because the expressions are boiled down and simplified, they are able to pack even more of an emotional punch.
Formalistically, there is a strong sense of color, line, and movement across his body of work. The jewel tones he is drawn to are very vibrant and yet subdued. There is also a gorgeous sense of light in these illustrations. The piece above, titled "He proposed this morning right after the alarm clock went off", uses large expressive brush strokes that take up half of the page to convey shadows on the face and body. Combined with the subtle texture of the watercolor, the looseness of the paint strokes creates a nice sense of movement across the page.
Personally, I really love these illustrations; I think they are incredibly charming. Looking at these has made me feel inspired to play around with lighting in my own work. While I have not had a chance to break out my paints just yet, I have several future watercolor studies in mind.
Love these so much and so excited to learn about this artist! I can totally see why you are drawn to his stuff!