Hilda Hopes Yoga Won't Fail

Full view of gouache calendar illustration

The artist's signature lower right

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

Framed behind glass and matted view

verso view