Song of the Desert

Above: Pastel detail

Above: The artist's signature

Above: Framed and lined behind glass in handsome gallery frame

Above: 1951 Advertising Calendar "Song of the Desert"

Grapefruit Moon Gallery is ecstatic to offer Zoe Mozert's 1950 pastel "Song of the Desert". This is by all accounts the artist's crowning achievement and most famous image. A luminous masterwork from the golden age of American pin up, it is one of the most widely circulated and printed pin-up images of all time. Enticingly, this is a self-portrait of Mozert, who made a name for herself both as the most famous female American illustrator of her day and a frequent model for her erotically charged illustrations. Here she is seen as a modern embodiment of the mythical Lady Godiva. This commanding and beautiful large-scale pastel is in an excellent state of preservation and ranks among the finest pin-up illustrations we have offered.

Above: Another view

Above: Frame profile and detail

The most famous female pin-up artist, Mozert (1907-1993) is an exemplary disciple of the Rolf Armstrong pastel style. Often her own model, Mozert is noted for rejecting sexy-girl cliches in favor of depicting more real seeming young women, with recognizably individual features and personalities.

Above: The artist at work with model c. 1950s

Above: The artist with Jane Russell posed in costume from "The Outlaw"

Her cover portraits of Hollywood starlets for such publications as "Romantic Movie Stories" and "Screen Book" were particularly popular, but she also contributed covers to such periodicals as "American Weekly" and "True Confessions."

The bulk of the artist's work, including such deliriously romantic nudes as "Moonglow" and "Song of the Desert", was created for leading calendar company Brown & Bigelow, but Mozert also made a mark as a movie poster artist. Most memorably, she created the imagery for Carole Lombard's "True Confession", and the notorious Jane Russell / Howard Hughes sex and sagebrush saga, "The Outlaw".

A prized example from the legendary Charles Martignette estate, beautifully framed and properly lined behind glass with three variously sized versions of vintage published Brown & Bigelow Advertising Calendars of this image.