orchid

A large and beautiful original pastel by Rolf Armstrong that first appeared as a pin-up calendar for The Thos. D. Murphy Calendar Company under the title “Orchids To You”. Armstrong only created eight artworks for the Iowa based company, and as he was already America’s premiere glamour illustrator when he began working with them, he was permitted to retain ownership of his original pastels. He often reworked these slightly for use as covers for College Humor magazine, during the tail end of his ten year association with the periodical. Staying just outside copyright infringement by removing the orchids from the model’s left hand, and placing a “New York” and “C” for copyright under his distinctive signature, this altered version appeared on the cover of College Humor in March of 1936, the last time an Armstrong girl would grace this title. This pastel appears in a mid 1930s “Armstrong Art Service’s” brochure with the title of “Flower of the North” which is included in sale.

Flower of the South

Artist: Rolf Armstrong

Simply stated, Thanks for the Orchid, is the finest Joyce Ballantyne artwork to come on the market. Commissioned by Brown & Bigelow in 1955, the luminous quality of the image and the detail and texture of the brush strokes display the impact of Elvgren’s teachings and collaboration on Ballantyne, if they do not indeed betray the hand of Gil Elvgren. Ballantyne worked closely with Elvgren for the better part of a decade, and it has often been suggested that he ghost painted some of her best work.

Thanks for the Orchid

Artist: Joyce Ballantyne

A luminous and glowing, glamour girl painting by the well-listed, prolific pin-up illustrator and Hollywood portrait artist Edward Runci. This fine oil on canvas features a Haddon Sundblom / Gil Elvgren inspired color palette and painterly technique. A formally posed beauty queen with a little bit of mischief in her eyes, in white gloves and fur wrap with a purple orchid from an admirer.

The Purple Orchid

Artist: Edward Runci

A delightful early Rolf Armstrong original pastel in which the artist employs an impressionist and modern technique for the shadowing and details. This is a lovely and unusual transition piece from the period in Armstrong’s career where he began to shift from depicting winsome art nouveau beauties to the more dramatic and angular art deco flapper girls which defined his career. We have yet to find a printed version of this stunning original artwork by the father of American pin-up.

An Orchid and a Smile