Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

Great American Pin-up

An original Calendar published luminous oil on canvas by noted and prolific pin-up illustrator Art Frahm used in 1956 by "The Goes Litho. Company" of Chicago Illinois. This large and pristine pin-up painting displays to fine effect Art Frahm's softer and less rough around the edges sensibilities and provides a good-girl art glamour counterpart to his infamous series of "panties dropped" pin-up paintings that have recently sold from the Charles Martignette estate and found buyers at between $20,000 - $25,000.00 per work at auction.

Roses From You

Artist: Art Frahm
Price:  $6,850.00

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.

Remember Me?

Artist: Earl Moran
Price:  Sold

A classic situational cheesecake pin up mishap unfolds in this original Louis F. Dow calendar painting by the Chicago area artist Charles Showalter titled "High & Dry." The lovely nude is caught, high, and perhaps now dry after removing her clothes. Grapefruit Moon Gallery recently acquired this and several other Louis F. Dow published calendar […]

High and Dry

Artist: Charles Showalter
Price:  S O L D

An unlikely red headed pin up girl fencing in her lingerie is the star attraction of this early rare surviving Gil Elvgren original pin up painting titled "Foil Proof." Not sure lingerie offers the best protection during a sword fight, but this luscious lady is sure a treat for the eyes. Created for the Louis […]

Foil Proof

Artist: Gil Elvgren
Price:  S O L D

This never before offered for sale, large original Gil Elvgren calendar pin-up painting was originally commissioned by the Brown & Bigelow calendar company in 1950 for their "Miss Sylvania" advertising line. The stylized cobalt blue and neon light idealized view of Midtown Manhattan with The Sylvania Building ablaze in the night underscore the importance of the lighting and electric company to the city that never sleeps.

Miss Sylvania in Manhattan

Artist: Gil Elvgren
Price:  Sold

In this original oil on canvas painting by the prolific American artist Forrest H. Clough, a blond pirate girl styled pin-up beauty discovers a bounty of buried treasures from a previous shipwreck. This fresh to the market vintage calendar artwork is titled on the verso "Pirate's Treasure" and is a published vintage example of the great American pin up.

Pirate's Treasure

Artist: F. H. Clough
Price:  Sold

An original Gil Elvgren pin-up oil painting created in 1952 for the Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company of Saint Paul Minnesota. This curvy pin-up beauty appeared under the title "Hard To Suit," a pun the copy department liked so much they used it again in 1954 to describe an Elvgren girl disrobing from her duck hunting garb to reveal lingerie. This is the prototypical Elvgren girl in a comically harrowing and skin revealing pin-up entanglement with the artist's classic pursed lip expression that evokes surprise, embarrassment and provocation.

Hard To Suit (Who Me?)

Artist: Gil Elvgren
Price:  S O L D

A very large and rare surviving pastel pin-up artwork from the late 1930s by the important female illustrator Irene Patten. Along with her sister Laurette, Irene Patten created numerous pin-up for the leading American calendar companies featuring tantalizing modernist heart-breakers in a variety of risque poses. Her original works are quite scarce today this is a very large example that comes elaborately framed and lined behind glass.

The Party Line

Artist: Irene Patten
Price:  Sold

Art Frahm pushes the boundaries of cheesecake pin-up in this scandalous and daring oil on canvas. Titled "Oooh, Is There a Man in the House?" this late 1940s Goes Litho calendar commissioned pin-up painting features a brunette in shockingly sheer negligee peeking around the corner in a brazen mix of apprehension and curiosity. This winsome brunette exhudes a level of erotic sophistication not always seen in the post-World War II pin up world.

Oooh, Is There a Man In the House?

Artist: Art Frahm
Price:  S O L D

An original 1962 oil on canvas by Gilette Elvgren commissioned by the Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company and published under the titles "Just Right","Hat's Nice" and "The Eyeds of March". This sexy pin-up masterwork explores the silk stockings & garters scenario for which the artist is best known. A brunette Elvgren girl admires her wiles in an aptly named vanity mirror in this provocative over the shoulder derriere exposed creation. For those of you not keeping track, recent auctions have seen Elvgren's pin-up works for Brown & Bigelow topping $200,000.00 on three recent occasions. The high water mark of $262,900.00 was seen at Heritage Auctions June 5th, 2008 sale in Dallas Texas (Lot #66097).

Just Right

Artist: Gil Elvgren
Price:  S O L D

 

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