Pin-Up Queens: Three Female Artists Who Shaped the American Dream Girl

Collectors Weekly ^ | 5/22/2013 | Lisa Hix

[mojito]

It’s easy to think of pin-up art as a charming relic of the old boys’ club—images that might line the walls of a Mid-Century smoking room where Don Draper and Roger Sterling slap each other on the back. And the names of the artists that come up over and over again are men: Alberto Vargas, George Petty, and Gil Elvgren.

So you might be surprised to learn that, according to pin-up art expert Louis K. Meisel, three of the most talented pin-up painters from the Golden Age, roughly the 1920s to the early 1960s, were women. “Pearl Frush, Joyce Ballantyne, and Zoë Mozert were terrific, as good as any of the men—in fact, better than many of them,” Meisel says.

[mojito]

Done because we need a break from the bleakness of the news. So enjoy the prettier girls from a better time.

Pictures at the link. Lots of pictures.

h/t: Vanderluen.

[DannyTN]

"Pictures at the link. Lots of pictures. "

Hey! No Bypassing the rules!

[Jacquerie]

To paraphrase Bob Hope, pin-ups reminded WWII servicemen what they were fighting for.

[Tanniker Smith]

The women never made those mistakes. I think they looked in the mirror a lot and they got things more right. The men tended to make the breasts larger, and they made the legs longer.

Wait! You're saying those are ... mistakes?

[TheThirdRuffian]

Laz would hit this.

[knarf]

Yeah .. I’d fight for THAT !

[Doogle]

The men tended to make the breasts larger, and they made the legs longer.

and?

[knarf]

Laz’ll haf’ta’ wait his turn.

[Lancey Howard]

Gil Elvgren, my favorite:

[Doogle]

"...Laz would hit a water fountain on a cool day"

[Tanniker Smith]

Exactly!

[jazusamo]

Nice looking Remington:)

[ArrogantBustard]

Badly designed shell holder ... and I bet anything she could handle a 12ga with proper instruction.

[jazusamo]

Agreed, and I'd bet there’d be many volunteer instructors.

[HiJinx]

Pull!

[HiJinx]

That shell holder is designed to spill its contents onto the ground, with obvious follow-on results...

[A.A. Cunningham]

Laz would hit this.

No doubt he would attempt. Unlikely he would be allowed.

[ArrogantBustard]

Also note the lack of eye and ear protection ...

That was obviously painted in a different age. Mid-late 1960s, I guess, based on the car and her mini-skirt.

[SES1066]

According to this article, Joyce Ballantyne did the famous Coppertone ad using her 3 yo daughter. One wonders what the reaction to that ad would be today?