• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Key Artists
    • Rolf Armstrong
    • Mahlon Blaine
    • Henry Clive
    • Gil Elvgren
    • Cardwell Higgins
    • Earl Moran
    • Charles Gates Sheldon
    • Arthur Prince Spear
    • Bunny Yeager
  • About
  • Browse by Topic
  • Contact

Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

  • Gallery Blog
  • Golden Gallery
  • Fine & Decorative
  • Illustration & Advertising
  • Paperback & Pulp
  • Pin-Up & Glamour
Pin-Up & Glamour Art

Wouldn’t You Like To Know…

Artist:Fritz Willis
Date:1963
Medium:Oil on Canvas
Dimensions:Sight size 24" by 34" Framed 30" by 40"
Condition:Excellent
Original Use:Calendar art for Brown & Bigelow
Full view of oil on canvas published pin-up painting
Full view of oil on canvas published pin-up painting

 

The artists signature lower right
The artist’s signature lower right

 

The image as it appeared as the February 1963 calendar page
The image as it appeared as a February 1963 calendar page

Wouldn’t You Like To Know… is a large sultry original published pin-up calendar painting by the prolific and important American artist Fritz Willis. Willis was the last true star pin-up artist of the old guard, when illustrative pin-up reigned supreme in men’s magazines and calendars. The artist worked during the very tail end of the genre’s popularity, and in paintings like this, brought the girl next door into the Swingin’ 60s, sometimes even giving her a touch of the swinger vibe. Showcasing a near nude modern sex kitten with the artist’s trademark aura of bored sophistication (and opera gloves). The Willis girl had no pretense of innocence, no oops moment or pursed lips, in many regards she was a creature of her time and stands as a time capsule when viewed today.

This oil on canvas was commissioned by the storied Brown & Bigelow calendar company as part of a 12 month calendar that used a different Willis girl to illustrate each month. It appeared as the February, 1963 illustration in the Artist’s Sketch Book Memo Calendar. A complete vintage calendar is included in the sale.

 

Artist's Sketch Book memo calendar for 1963
Artist’s Sketch Book memo calendar for 1963

 

Framed view in ornate period mid-century gold frame
Framed view in ornate period mid-century gold frame

 

Detail
Detail

 

Frame detail and corner profile
Frame detail and corner profile

 

verso view of untouched canvas on original pine stretcher bars
verso view of untouched canvas on original pine stretcher bars

Wouldn’t You Like To Know…

Artist: Fritz Willis

Filed Under: Pin-Up & Glamour Art, Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: 1960s, Brown & Bigelow, erotic, Fritz Willis, nude, opera gloves, original calendar art, pin up, risque, The Golden Gallery
Added to Gallery: December 1, 2014

 

Contact Grapefruit Moon Gallery



    Primary Sidebar

    Join our mailing list

    Grapefruit Moon Gallery Around the Web

    • Facebook
    • Instagram

    Copyright © 2025