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Pin-Up Art History
Kevin Freeman
Prehistoric man obviously had some degree
of veneration for the female form, judging by Paleolithic
sculptures of well endowed women. Anthropologists are unsure if
they symbols of fertility or erotic talismans passed around by
horney hunters. These Venuses served a need or the common good
somehow, even if they don't follow our strict definition of
pin-up..
Ancient Greeks were unashamed
by modern standards in acceptance of the nude figure. The
original Olympics were contested by naked athletes. Male
athletes. Still, there are many examples of Hellenic Godesses,
all in fashionable dishabille. The Greek Gods also had a
tendency to interact with mere mortals in many carnal stories.
Depictions of these sorts of encounters call for a degree of
audience participation, understanding and involvement.
In Pompeii and the Roman world,
erotic art was woven into the fabric of everyday life. Frank
sexual depictions were found in public marketplaces, murals and
sculptures. Once Christianity became the official religion of
the state under Emperor Constantine in the Fourth Century,
immoral 'pagan' imagry was banished and driven underground.
Thus, unless you have a fetish for Mary Magdeline, the
Dark Ages had begun. Beyond religious artifacts and decorative
arts, there was scant representation of sacriligious pleasures
of the flesh during Medieval times.
When a merchant class could
support artists instead of just The Church, a new definition of
feminine beauty could be commissioned. With municipal buildings
and private villas to decorate in the city states of Italy, the
myths and historical figures of ancient Rome provided ample
material. Leda and the Swan, the birth of Venus
and other fables provided convenient excuses to display comely
nudes. All facets of science and secular humanism were brought
to bear in creating the great body of works known as the
Renaissance. Such classical values were imparted by Da Vinci
(1452-1519), Michaelangelo (1475-1564), Titian (1485-1576) and
others.
In Europe during the 1800s,
there were movements to escape the excesses of the Baroque and
Rococo periods and return to classical simplicity. Neoclassicism
was formalized in Europe as an outgrowth of Academic Art and
again the popular characters from the past were represented by
mostly nude models, such as Paul Thurman's 'Psyche'.
Orientalists could display nude alegorical figures in lush
exotic settings without reproach. An odalisque, or harem
concubine was a popular subject. Also in the 19th Century,
Classicism was taken to an extreme by the English movement
called the Pre-Raphaelites. While their strict adherence to
Renaissance styles did not last long, their works were very
influential on the Golden Age of Illustration.
Early American influences in
magazine and print illustration include Howard Pyle (1853-1911),
his Brandywine school and students such as N. C. Wyeth
(1882-1945), Harvey Dunn (1884-1952), Frank Schoonover
(1877-1972) and Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966). Dean Cornwell
(1892-1960), John La Gatta (1894 - 1976) and Andrew Loomis
(1892-1959) were also major forces in magazine and advertising
illustration. The Arts and Crafts and decorative Art Nouveau
movements in Europe also contributed to the artistry and styles
of the times.
What good is a work of art if
only a select few can view it? The middle ages offered
illuminated manuscripts, available only to wealthy patrons. Even
the development of printing didn't democratize illustration
because of the small scale and painstaking process in producing
graphics. The intersection of economics and technology would
provide an improved means of distribution over the last two
centuries. Lithography was invented in the end of the Eighteenth
Century. The birth of photography soon after provided new
techniques for printing and the adoption of the offset method at
the turn of the twentieth century allowed for larger, faster and
better quality print jobs. Once printed materials were available
to a vast public, the Golden Age of Illustration was said to
begin.
The Golden Age is conveniently placed from 1880 to 1920,
although there are arguments which can take it from the end of
the Civil War until World War Two. The development of economical
high speed printing and an increased literacy built a tremendous
audience for the only available forms of mass communications at
the time: Books, papers and magazines. Publishers and later
advertising agencies competed for the services of those artists,
such as Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) who could generate memorable
images for mass consumption, oftentimes on strict deadlines.
Following the War,
the realistic end of the spectrum was consigned to photographs
of varying quality. With such a glut of magazines to fill,
skilled photographers and attractive models were in short
supply. The art world was overtaken by the Abstract
Impressionists, a style that is not condusive to the pin-up
genre!
If art can be said
to hold up a mirror to society, then the pin-up occupies a
particular place of honor in modern art, particularly that of
the latter half of the Twentieth Century. Prior to that, Duchamp
and dadists explored the concept of what constitutes art. A
painting of a pipe, a 'fountain' made from a urinal and other
works challenged the role an artist played in relation to the
world around themselves.
Provocative
images, particularly used in advertising, were on the blade's
edge between sex and commerce. As consumerism rose, particularly
after World War II, the icon of pitchwoman was particularly ripe
for lampooning.
The Pop (for
Popular) Art revolution had begun. Drawing on atavistic figures
like Marilyn Monroe or an anonymous sex symbol, reality is
processed and packaged up
Since such
artists' work is exhibited in museums, galleries and coffee
table books, they do not strictly pass the test for
mass-produced pin-up designation. Still, their very existence
proves how durable an architype the pin-up model is.
Additionally,
there are several contemporary artists such as
Nagel,
Kacere
and
Koons
Jeff
who reassert what it is to take command of their media and
use a photorealistic or painterly approach.
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The modern antecedents of the pin-up can be
traced to the Gibson Girl in America, who
made her debut in 1887, and the Art Nouveau
posters of
Mucha Alphonse
and
Cheret
Jules
in Europe. The prototypical pin-up postcard
artist of the nineteenth century,
Kirchner Raphael,
contributed to the establishment of the
"pretty girl" format. Also becoming publicly
acceptable was such mainstream popular art
as 'Psyche at Nature's Mirror' by
Paul Thumann, first seen in Munsey's
December 1893 Issue. White Rock beverages
then adopted it as their trademark and, by
1947, the demure Psyche was attending
parties topless! Two popular Glamour icons
to follow the
Charles Dana Gibson
Girl, were those of
Howard Chandler Christy and
Harrison Fisher.
At the turn of the
century, the calendar was the most prominent
form of pin-up material, especially the
early "glamour girl" formats by Angelo
Asti. In 1913 the controversial nude 'September
Morn' by Paul Chabas was censored
by the New York Society for the Supression
of Vice. Still, the image was subsequently
printed on literally hundreds of thousands
of calendars, in addition to candy boxes,
postcards and more. The Art Deco period also
made respectable any art featuring Romantic
nudity, such as that of
Mabel Rollins Harris,
Maxfield Parrish and Hy Hintermeister.
By the 1920s, the golden age of illustration was in full flower. The new
film industry fueled the
public's appetite for magazines devoted to their celluloid heroes. In the
1800s, a glimpse of a woman's bare ankle could be considered scandalous.
Compare that with the blatantly sexual girls of the
Roaring Twenties by
Enoch Bolles,
George
Quintana and
Earle K. Bergey just a
generation later!
Corporations and advertising agencies were likewise vying
for the services of talented artists to create identities the public would
respond to. A significant pre-war American advertising icon was the
Arrow Shirt man,
portrayed brilliantly by J.C. Leyendecker. Although Leyendecker is primarily known for his
depictions of men, he had a profound influence upon popular illustrators
such as Norman Rockwell
and many who followed.
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As popular culture devoured its forbidden voyeuristic fantasies in
pulp magazines, and later
paperback books, another trend had begun to legitimize the pin-up as a
serious art form: Higher brow fare offered by such slick periodicals as Esquire (an important predecessor of
Playboy),
Cosmopolitan, The Saturday Evening Post and others. Art Deco
depictions of the female form were considered tasteful enough for inclusion
in these magazines.
Alberto
Vargas makes for a convenient figure as we watch his style evolve from
coy to more explicit. The fact that he started at Esquire and ended
up at Playboy also makes for a barometer of trends within pin-up.
While
Vargas was refining the centerfold concept, a contemporary of his
was pursuing an even higher profile venue - that of superstar commercial
artist. George Petty had
worked for Esquire (Vargas replaced him after a dispute over salary),
but the 'Petty Girl' was a fixture from the 1930s until the 1950s. The Petty
Girl pitched a dizzying array of products to a national audience. She became
so firmly entrenched in the public's consciousness that a
movie was actually
made about her - a fictitious airbrushed icon.
During World War Two, pin-ups accompanied G.I.s in the form of movie star
photos like Betty Grable
and Rita Hayworth.
Vargas pin-ups were also very much in evidence in the barracks and as
nose-art of the Airforce. Additionally, the Louis F. Dow Calendar Company produced special
booklets of pin-up art created by their star artist
Gillette Elvgren to be
mailed overseas. Check out the Collector's Press
Military Pin-Up Kits
for example.
After the war, Christian Dior introduced his 'new
look', war restrictions on luxury items such as nylons were lifted and
undergarments finally made the transition to two separate pieces, the bra
and the girdle. Society had moved past the androgynous flappers and the
economically depressed 1930s to a new age of prosperity. The move towards
commercialization was well under way. If a pretty, wholesome girl-next-door
could be utilized to sell a product, why not a girl in stockings modestly
flashing some skin (But she's always a 'good girl' - Its not her
fault that playful puppy pulled her skirt over her head!). If anyone is
responsible for the explosion of vibrant beautiful pitchwomen, it is Chicago
artist Haddon Sundblom.
Sundblom's
lush oil technique influenced a roster of
important pin-up artists. The most famous
pupil was
Gil Elvgren,
who worked at
Sundblom's
Stevens-Gross advertising agency along with
such notable artisans as Al Buell,
Harry Ekman,
Bill Medcalf
and
Joyce Ballantyne.
Their technique of using thick layers of
paint to achieve a warmth and glow was
dubbed 'the mayonnaise school'. Other
descendants of this style of luminous
illustration included Donald 'Rusty' Rust,
Art Frahm,
Peter Driben,
Edward D'Ancona,
Edward Runci,
Vaughan Alden Bass,
Al
Brule
and
Pearl Frush.
Independent of the national accounts for
specific products and services, there were
other fertile markets for pin-up art.
Brown & Bigelow, for example, consider
themselves in the 'rememberance advertising'
business. They produce office supplies,
playing cards and calendars, many of which
are designed to be imprinted by small
companies and then given away as promotions.
They employed some of the best talent to
design both generic and industry-specific
artwork. Although they, as well as other
calendar publishers, occasionally produced
nude or 'racy' product, they sought not to
alienate their conservative or religious
customers with such fare.
Brown & Bigelow also
supported several styles of pin-up. In
addition to the strait-forward realistic oil
paintings of Elvgren and others, they also
utilized pastel artists, such as
Rolf Armstrong,
Earl Moran,
Billy de Vorss
and
Zoe Mozert
and originated the 'sketch book' genre
pioneered by
Earl
MacPherson
and used to great success by
Ballantyne,
T.N. Thompson,
Fritz Willis,
K.O. Munson,
Freeman Elliot,
Ted
Withers
and others.
Playboy created a sensation with their
centerfold of
Marilyn
Monroe
in 1953. Until that time, it was primarily Esquire who
provided opportunities for a generation of pin-up artists, including
Ben-Hur Baz,
Ernest Chiriaka,
Mike Ludlow and
J. Frederick Smith.
Although Esquire had presented photographic pinups previously, they
never contained overt nudity.
An interesting footnote to the
Pop Art movement of
the 1960's is the work of Mel
Ramos, who combined nude pin-ups with recognizable corporate images for
a satiric blend of cheesecake and commercialism. Another modern artist of mention is
Patrick
Nagel, who died
tragically early in his promising career.
Although
Nagel's work has the cool
aesthetic of woodblocks and don't invite the viewer into a realistic
depiction, the fact that his original paintings, and that of his modern
contemporaries, commands incredible prices speaks to the current attitudes
towards the subject of pin-up as a modern art form.
The introduction of explicit men's magazines
(Penthouse introduced the world to
pubic hair in 1970) made such innocent
depictions seem quaint and old-fashioned.
Photography was a quick and easy means to
satisfy the pressures of monthly deadlines.
Today's sex symbols seem to be comprised of
pre-packaged teen sensations,
silicone-enhanced quasi porn stars and
anorexic 'supermodels'. Modern pin-up
artists such as
Olivia de Berardinis,
Hajime Sorayama,
Carlos Cartagena,
Jennifer Janesko,
Aslan Alain
and
John
Kacere
have turned their vision towards
photorealistic fantasy or fetishistic
subjects and lack the innocence of their
predecessors. (Many also tend to specialize
in airbrush, a technique that can leave a
cold, hard and artificial look.)
Still there are those, such as
Dave Stevens, who have not forgotten
how to draw a good girl in a bad situation
without showing us every anatomical detail
of his subjects. We must thank Dave, not
only for creating the Rocketeer character,
but for reviving interest in the great photo
pin-up gal of the 1950s, Bettie Page.
I am also particularly fond of some modern
European illustrators such as
Manara Milo.
(There's also
Eric Stanton, who provided us with
bad girls in bad situations, but that is the
opposite direction of cheesecake!) To draw
the line arbitrarily, I have created a page
specifically for another interest of mine,
comics. Although Stevens,
Greg
Hildebrandt,
Pike Jay Scott
,
Bill Ward and others have experience in
the comic world (Which includes the
sub-genres of 'good girl', 'bad girl',
superheroine and Anime), their depictions
continue to expand my precepts of successful
pin-up art and are documented elsewhere.
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Pin-up artists
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