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Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

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Sorry, It's Sold

Hilda Hopes Yoga Won’t Fail

Artist:Duane Bryers
Date:1960s - 70s
Medium:Gouache on illustration board
Dimensions:Sight size 11" x 16" Framed 18 1/2" by 22 3/4"
Condition:Excellent
Original Use:Calendar Pin-up art for Brown & Bigelow
Full view of gouache calendar illustration
Full view of gouache calendar illustration

 

The artist's signature lower right
The artist’s signature lower right

 

Published Brown & Bigelow calendar page of painting (included in sale)
Published Brown & Bigelow calendar page of painting (included in sale)

The red-headed, zaftig, and delightfully charming calendar girl Hilda, in a yoga pose tests her balance in this original published pin-up painting by Duane Bryers, created for the Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Hilda first appeared in the 1950s, and for two decades the free-spirited exploits of the somewhat daffy but imminently lovable character captured the public’s imagination. By around 1980, illustrated pin-up as a genre had fallen out of favor, and Bryers retired the Hilda character for good. As America’s only plus sized pin-up calendar girl, however, Hilda has seen a resurgence of popularity in recent years, embraced by contemporary pin-up collectors for her confident embodiment of her full-figured sex appeal.

Caption reads in full … “Hilda hopes Yoga won’t fail, And good balance will always prevail. For if she should tumble, Twould cause quite a rumble, And a quake on the Richter scale…”

Painting is matted and framed behind glass and a tear sheet of the Brown & Bigelow published calendar is included in the sale.

Detail
Detail

 

Framed behind glass and matted view
Framed behind glass and matted view

 

verso view
verso view

Hilda Hopes Yoga Won’t Fail

Artist: Duane Bryers

Filed Under: Pin-Up & Glamour Art, Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: 1960s, Brown & Bigelow, Duane Bryers, Hilda, pin up, Yoga
Added to Gallery: August 2, 2018

 

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