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Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

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Pin-Up & Glamour Art

The Ice-Capades Of 1946

Artist:George Petty
Date:1946
Medium:Mixed Media on Illustration Board
Dimensions:Sight Size 13" x 17" Framed 22" x 26"
Condition:Very good with some fading
Original Use:Cover Art For The 1946 Ice-Capades Souvenir Program
Detail
The artist’s signature upper right and detail of skater
The artwork as it appeared as the cover of the 1946 Ice-Capades souvenir program (included in sale)

George Petty created this dynamic original pin-up painting as cover art for the souvenir program for the 1946 Ice-Capades (the sixth year of its production which took place in New York City at Rockefeller Center). The image shows a modernist winged pin-up girl deftly soaring through the air on figure skates against a blue background. This particular Petty Girl was known as “Chicapet”, and the inner cover of the program suggests that she be mailed overseas to brighten the day of a serviceman stationed in Europe in the immediate aftermath of World War II. The popularity of Petty girl covers cannot be overstated. In fact, this one was so popular, it was even manufactured as a celluloid lapel pin which was sold at the show.

Handsomely framed and silk matted under glass
Detail
View before framing
Verso view of notated Illustration board
Period decorative label pin – designed after this illustration
Frame corner profile

This work comes out of a recently unearthed New York collection that included a number of Petty Ice-Capades originals. We were fortunate enough to acquire two of the works, which had remained in private hands and institutions since their creation. Examples from this series rarely come to market. In 2010, this illustration for the cover of the 1965 program, the only example that has come on the auction market brought $16,730.00.

Sold at auction in 2010 for $16,730.00

The Ice-Capades Of 1946

Artist: George Petty

Filed Under: Pin-Up & Glamour Art, Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: 1940s, art deco, Cover Art, Figure Skating, George Petty, glamour, Golden Age, ice skating, Ice-Capades, magazine cover, original cover art, pin up, pulp, risque
Added to Gallery: January 10, 2017

 

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