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Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

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Sorry, It's Sold

Fisherman’s Luck

Artist:Earl Moran
Date:1941
Medium:Pastel on illustration board
Dimensions:Sight size 24" x 30" Framed 28" x 32"
Condition:Excellent
Original Use:Brown & Bigelow calendar art
Price: SOLD
Full view of pastel pin-up illustration
The artist’s signature lower right
Published Brown & Bigelow Advertising Calendar from 1941

Earl Moran created this coquettish and sassy pin-up pastel for Brown and Bigelow’s 1941 calendar line.  It was published with the title Fishermans’s Luck. The image shows an outdoorsy redhead beauty fly fishing wading into the water, legs on full display. This fresh-to-the-market original pastel is in a pristine state of conservation and retains the original frame. The work is properly lined with a spacer to keep the pastel away from the glass. The back is unopened and has a number of Brown & Bigelow inventory labels and notations. This is an exciting find and a really fun example of Earl Moran’s pin-up mastery. This image was additionally used as advertising for Red Rock Cola and also appeared as a Mutoscope card with the same title slightly later in the 1940s.

Detail
Mutoscope Card featuring image
Framed and properly lined under glass in original frame
Verso view of unopened back
Detail of Brown & Bigelow labels on verso

Though Earl Moran had been a national celebrity since 1940 when LIFE magazine featured his work in an extensive feature titled “Speaking of Pictures,” the late 1940s are today considered the most interesting of Moran’s career. The artist moved to Hollywood in 1946 where he quickly began working with a young Blue Book model named Norma Jeane, who would go onto stardom as Marilyn Monroe. The pair worked together often in the years between 1946-1950 and their association has kept Moran’s luminous artworks in the public eye to this day.  Earl Moran was one of the century’s most important pin-up artists and a true star in the illustration world. This large and defining example has it all.

Fisherman’s Luck

Artist: Earl Moran
Price:  SOLD

Filed Under: Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: 1940s, american, art deco, bathing beauty, Brown & Bigelow, Calendar, Earl Moran, fishing, glamour, Golden Age, original calendar art, original illustration art, pastel, pin up, The Golden Gallery
Added to Gallery: June 4, 2019

 

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    About Grapefruit Moon Gallery

    Grapefruit Moon Gallery, based in Minneapolis MN, specializes in vintage pin up and original illustration art.  We are the proud home of the Bunny Yeager archives.

    Since 2003, Grapefruit Moon Gallery has been a leading dealer of exclusive original paintings by Gil Elvgren, Alberto Vargas, Earl Moran, Rolf Armstrong and Henry Clive, as well as vintage photographs, prints, and period decorative arts in ceramic and metal.

    All artworks featured are original, accurately represented, and guaranteed to be the work of the named artist.

    Interested buyers may view pieces by appointment and we are happy to answer any questions you may have. [Contact Us]

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