Pin up artwork featuring beautiful women was very popular in the early part of the 1900's. Some of the most famous were BILLY DeVORSS, ALBERTO VARGAS (Vargas was and is still famous for his surreal portraits of women. He would say he painted women the way he saw them. from the 40's on), ELVGREN (Elvgren is know for glorifying the all-American girl. Elvgren's late 1930's work tended toward a deco syle, and his women were often baby-faced girls who looked like Jean Harlow and Claudette Colbert. His work transformed over the years to be the sort of pin-up calendar girls favored by barbershops, and auto shops. His subjects are often shown in compromising situations - showing the woman dressing or undressing or showing a little "too much" leg..... Elvgren cheesecake pin-up girls are unashamed and confident no matter how skimpy or undressed she may be.), GEORGE PETTY (The Petty Girl was an American icon who captured the nation's admiration for more than 25 years. From 1933 to 1956, her likeness was seen on tens of millions of calendars, magazine centerfolds, advertisements, posters and billboards. The Petty Girl had a mischievous, engaging smile and a special twinkle in her eyes. She frequently wore only the barest of necessities (and sometimes not even that)), and EDWARD RUNCI (Pin-up enthusiasts have also fallen deeply in love with Edward Runci's pin-up girls over the years. By the age of twenty-seven, Runci had created a name for himself in Los Angeles . He was well known early on for his portrait commissions for Hollywood's Who's Who crowd. This is about when he started painting portraits of beautiful women - his favorite work . His goal was to paint - sexy but nice - glamour and pin-ups for his calendar and other commerical work), GENE PRESSLER, ROLF ARMSTRONG, T.N. THOMPSON, PETER DRIBEN and many more. |
