pin up

A direct and gritty, highly sexualized unsigned gouache on illustration board painting from a collection of works we recently acquired that are believed to come from the early years of Saga Magazine. Saga was a lurid Men’s title that thrived in the post war pulp low brow magazine market of the early 1950’s. This is a typical sweat magazine take on the old folklore tale of the farmer’s daughter. When we purchased this collection one of the old frames had a label on the back that read “attributed to Valigursky – For Saga Magazine 40’s – 50s.”

The Farmer’s Daughter

Artist: Ed Valigursky (attributed)

This delicately rendered original signed Pearl Frush watercolor pin-up illustration titled “Miss Gulf Coast”, was created for the 1947 Aqua Tour Series of bathing beauty images for the Shaw-Barton Calendar Company of Coshocton, Ohio. Pearl Frush was a prolific and talented female artist that was active during the 1940s and 50s and worked primarily out of Chicago. Painting is silk-matted and framed behind glass in a gorgeous wide profile museum quality gallery frame, signed lower right and verso is notated with usage publication text.

Miss Gulf Coast

Artist: Pearl Frush

Triple X Rancho is perhaps the most unabashedly lurid spicy pulp scene created by Allen Anderson during his prolific career as a freelance illustrator. This image, which features a terrified yet sexually provocative pin up cowgirl being branded against her will was created as the cover of the February 1943 edition of Spicy Western Stories, Volume #8 Issue #6. This rare surviving oil painting is in a very fine state of conservation and one of but a few examples of the artist’s published pulp covers to emerge.

Triple X Rancho

Artist: Allen Anderson

A lurid spicy pulp cover oil painting by Allen Anderson
created as the cover of the February 1943 edition of Speed Western Stories, Volume #1 Issue #2 (Trojan Publishing, Chicago). A rare surviving example of Western themed spicy pulp cover art, this was unearthed along with two additional original cover paintings by Allen Anderson that had for many years been displayed at the Cimarron Dude Ranch in Peekskill, New York.

Frisco Or Bust

Artist: Allen Anderson

Allen Anderson created this damsel in distress, Western spicy pulp oil on canvas painting as the cover of the April 1943 edition of Speed Western Stories, Volume #1 Issue #4 (Trojan Publishing, Chicago). This vivid and rare surviving example of lurid spicy pulp cover art was unearthed by Grapefruit Moon Gallery along with two additional original cover paintings by Allen Anderson that had for many years been displayed at the Cimarron Dude Ranch in Peekskill, New York.

Bucky Swings The Whip

Artist: Allen Anderson

A rare surviving mixed medium calendar commissioned painting for “American Art Works Company”. A Great Depression-era 1930s art deco work by L. Goddard of a lovely young Indian maiden drawing back cupid’s bow and taking aim. This large impressive work is beautifully framed and matted and ready to hang in a period ornate carved wood gold frame.

Taking Aim

Artist: L. Goddard

This original gouache painting by Henry Clive was used as the cover of Randolph Hearst’s American Weekly Magazine, August 6, 1944. One from a series of covers that glorified the beauty of women from the cultures America found itself allied with during the dark days of World War II, Global Glamour presented a rare opportunity for Clive to depict women from a variety of races in the guise of pin up and glamour art.

Global Glamour – Alaska

Artist: Henry Clive

A delicately rendered pastel on illustration board by Henry Clive, capturing an exotic pretty nude pin-up model with ruby red lips envisioned as a sleeping beauty. This captures effortlessly the prolific artist’s unique take on feminine allure. We believe this to be an unpublished illustration, retains its handsome hand carved wood gallery frame and is handsomely cloth matted and lined behind glass.

A Sleeping Beauty

Artist: Henry Clive

Pre-code Hollywood starlet Verna Hillie is the subject of this erotically charged pastel portrait which was likely used as a cover for the title Reel Movie Fun, a short lived wild and racy publication. Pastel is dated and signed on the back and the sitter is identified in the artist’s hand as seen.

Pre-Code Cover Portrait of Verna Hillie

Artist: Cardwell Higgins

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

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