Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
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 […]
Artist: George Petty
A fabulous published erotic pin-up painting by Freeman Elliott for The Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company. The image appeared in 1948 as one of the two images in a double deck of playing cards put out by the calendar giant marketed with the title “Winning Aces”. From the Collection of Charles Martignette and Louis Meisel, the […]
Artist: Freeman Elliott
A rugged and gritty WWII – era illustration by the prolific American artist E.F. Ward, which was created as part of the advertising campaign for Seiberling Rubber Company. Published as the central image for a magazine interior advertisement that appeared in numerous wartime periodicals, Safe Passage is a large format well-realized gouache on illustration board painting which […]
Artist: E.F. Ward
This striking and vibrantly colored oil on canvas pin-up painting by Art Frahm features a gorgeous redheaded nude draped in a lavender shawl. She delicately removes one of her high-heeled shoes while seated on a green fringed hassock. Her fair skin, red hair, rosy cheeks, and red lips are in beautiful contrast to […]
Artist: Art Frahm
Jewel Flowers; a diminutive gem of an artist’s model who was muse to Rolf Armstrong for half his career, and whose popularity at times threatened to surpass his. Armstrong began the 1940s known for vampy flappers and radiant pin-ups with art deco sophistication, a style that was waning in popularity at the time. His meeting with Flowers, an unknown […]
For nearly three decades the inimitable Enoch Bolles was the sole cover artist for Film Fun magazine, creating larger than life and uniquely erotic pin up creations that bridged the gap between the traditional calendar girl and pulp magazine femme-fatales. In this example, which graced the cover of the June 1940 issue, a streamlined […]
Artist: Enoch Bolles
This playfully spirited and sexy original oil on canvas pin-up painting by Edward Runci was published by the Shaw-Barton Calendar Company in 1947 with the title “Wish You Were Here.” The artist was an outstanding painter of pin-ups during the 1940s and 50s whose smooth style was much admired by his contemporaries. Unlike the majority of other […]
Artist: Edward Runci
This 1949 Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company commissioned pin-up pastel is one of the finest examples by Earl Moran we have encountered. A redheaded heart-breaker on a then state of the art mid-century modern phone asks the viewer and the caller to “Remember Me?” in a classic pin-up entanglement loaded with double entendre. Earl Moran was a master of light and shadow and this large and commanding artwork is a monument to his talent.
Artist: Earl Moran
This 1948 Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company commissioned pastel by Earl Moran is a large and defining example of American pin up. A pretty blonde pin-up girl is posed on a mid-century modern Heywood Wakefield office desk with a phone in one hand. The title “Call Again” is a witty take on an office secretary and her private hours. Condition is pristine in a custom made lined gallery frame with fitted corners behind ultraviolet glass. A 1948 Brown & Bigelow advertising calendar of the image is included with sale.
Artist: Earl Moran
This delicately rendered, original, signed Pearl Frush pin-up illustration was published by the Gerlach-Barklow Calendar Company under the title “Miss Bermuda.” The nearly photo-realist watercolor appeared as part of a 1947 “Aqua Tour” series of bathing beauty images. Pearl Frush was a prolific and talented female artist who was active during the 1940s and 50s and worked […]
Artist: Pearl Frush
