Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration
An iconic early original pin up oil painting by Gil Elvgren for the Louis F. Dow calendar company of Saint Paul, Minnesota titled “A Hitch in Time.” In this never before offered published calendar work, a pretty modernist pin up girl is caught hitching up her sexy silk stockings in a hurried moment while tangled […]
Artist: Gil Elvgren
This majestic and otherworldly oil-on-board by the New York illustrator A.D. Rahn is a reflection on the decadence of the Broadway stage circa 1915. A beautiful and haughty blonde, whose bobbed hair and dropped waist gown evoke Irene Castle, is seen emerging from backstage with the help of a green imp, her own high […]
Artist: A.D. Rahn
A large format redheaded pin up girl cover painting by the well listed female artist Ellen (E.B.) Segner, used as the cover for The Toronto Star Weekly, July 22, 1950. The artist was a prolific calendar artist who worked for the Louis F. Dow and Thomas D. Murphy Calendar Companies during the 1930s – 40s. […]
Artist: Ellen Segner
A fabulous surviving Gil Elvgren pin up oil painting from the Brown & Bigelow Calendar line of 1953, published with the title Out of the Running (What A Heel!). A pretty party girl laments the broken shoe that has temporarily taken her away from the evening’s fun. The image was a tremendous success for the company, […]
Artist: Gil Elvgren
This original gouache and ink Al Buell published pin up was painted in 1959 for the Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company, and first appeared as the June 1961 image for a 12 page calendar titled Buell’s Beauties. The model appears as an artist, brush in hand, in this colorful mid-century modernist calendar painting. […]
Artist: Al Buell
In May of 1919, on the advice of Sam Kingston, general manager for Florence Ziegfeld, Alberto Vargas applied to be the in-house artist for the Ziegfeld Follies. The rest, as they say, was history. At only 24 Vargas had already established himself as a freelance illustrator of beautiful women, with a sophisticated style inspired by Raphael […]
Artist: Alberto Vargas
Dating to 1950, this dazzling colorful original paperback cover was painted by George Gross for Quarter Books #57, The Virgin And The Barfly. Illustrating a scene from the novel by Gerald Foster (one of many likely pseudonyms of the prolific Peggy Gladdis), this is a splashy, trashy, and altogether irresistible example of sleaze paperback […]
Artist: George Gross
Seen gamely climbing into a larger than life pipe threader in ballet slippers and skimpy pink apron, this redheaded Petty girl is an unlikely yet alluring gearhead. A published mixed media pin-up illustration by George Petty which appeared as a calendar for Ridgid Tools in September of 1952, as part of his […]
Artist: George Petty
An inventive stark modernist pin up mixed medium work by the Washington D.C. commercial artist and illustrator Russell Hill. The artist worked in gouache and airbrush to create sleek and unique images of the feminine form that found him much in demand in the advertising world of the 1940s. We have seen other examples […]
Artist: Russell Hill
This lighthearted cheesecake pin up illustration graced the January 1956 page of Bill Randall’s wildly popular “Randall’s Date Book” 12 page calendar series. For his “Date Book” commissions, Randall played off the success of the Brown & Bigelow Calendar company’s yearly Artist Sketch Pad pin up calendar, while adding his own charm and whimsy. Work […]
Artist: Bill Randall
