In the 1950s and 1960s, it was even seen as a career boost for an aspiring actress or starlet to be painted and published on an Elvgren calendar and the train ride from Los Angeles to the artist’s home in St Paul, Minnesota, was a regular route for hopeful models. They were charming young girls caught in emberassing situations. The sensual, hyper-feminine images were always beautiful, always sexy and provocative but in an innocent way. This was considered to be the Pin-Up’s “Golden Age”, and thousands of images were commissioned to raise soldier morale while fighting overseas. Some of the photos that he used as reference can be seen above.ĭuring WWII Pin-Ups were used in recruitment materials, posters and calendars promoting the purchase of war bonds. But maybe the most important aspect of Elvgren’s artwork was that it was inspired from real-life. His clients ranged from Brown & Bigelow to Coca-Cola and he even illustrated stories for magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post and Good Housekeeping. These women, with their nipped-in waists, D-cup busts, long legs (always in heels), big blue eyes with pouting red lips, both catered to and informed the desires of American men for 40 years. He was a master of portraying the feminine and a commercial success. Along with Alberto Vargas and George Petty, Gil Elvgren created an era of sensual, hyper-feminine images. Gil Elvgren and the Pin-Up Girlsĭuring the 1940s and ’50s, Pin-Up was everywhere. The drawings were used to sell magazines, fashion, homeware, films, cigarettes and everything you can think of. Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe were celebrities who became sex symbols in the 1950s due to their mass-produced, pin-up photos.
ĭuring the WWII the Pin-Up art was reflecting the idea of beauty and sexuality. The Pin-Up genre gave rise to several well-known artists, one of them being the renown American painter and illustrator Gil Elvgren. The Pin-Up girls were pictured as versions of beautiful, attractive women meant to boost soldiers’morale during World War I and WWII.
The portraits of flirtatious, seductive, innocent and independent women became an icon during the early 20th century and continued well into the late 90s.
0 kommentar(er)
