Dating to the late 1930s, this breezy glamour girl pin-up advertising painting for Ovaltine shows off the vitalizing and energizing benefits of the classic malted milk powder. The foreground features a pretty young blonde embodiment of the active type, looking relaxed, youthful and refreshed in the hillside above a country club in India, during the late era of British rule. An Ovaltine sign shines in the distance, and traditionally costumed Indian nationals enjoy the fine weather behind her. The piece offers a very positive take on British culture in the colonies, when in fact the period saw leaders like Nehru and Ghandi leading mass struggles for Indian independence. Ovaltine was a tremendously popular beverage in the UK, and this in all regards appears to be a commission for an English advertising campaign. This was recently acquired by us in Britain and likely created by an English illustrator, but the work very much resembles the pin-up style of the Stevens-Gross ad agency in Chicago. Ovaltine was in fact a major account for Stevens-Gross for over two decades. Staff artists there included Gil Elvgren, Al Buell, Joyce Ballantyne, Harold McCauley and Andrew Loomis, and of course, Haddon Sundblom. Unsigned in fine restored condition, and handsomely framed in a period gold wood frame. The painting has been relined on newly fashioned back stretcher bars and displays wonderfully.
