Pin-up & Glamour Art

The curious and strangely "cultish" world of pin-up and glamour art features paintings and pastels designed to titillate and arouse -- or maybe just amuse -- albeit within the confines of a watchful mainstream modern America. The genre emerged after the turn of the 20th Century. Full-figured, demure yet bold for the times, and coyly fresh art nouveau calendar girls illustrated by Charles Dana Gibson, Raphael Kirchner, and Harrison Fisher were in huge demand during the late Victorian years. The following Art Deco, World War II, and post-WWII years showed unflagging popularity for the genre. The wide and varied collection of Pin-Up and Glamour original artworks are all available exclusively through the Grapefruit Moon Gallery website.

Golden Gallery featured pieces
marilyn monroe, earl moran, pin up, norma jeane
Marilyn Monroe In Paradise
Earl Moran

gil elvgren, gillette elvgren, pin up, brown & bigelow
Finders Keepers
Gil Elvgren

Recently Added to Pin-up & Glamour Art
Ready To Serve
Zoe Mozert (1950)
This fresh to the market large pastel pin-up illustration by Zoe Mozert was commissioned for the Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company and used in their 1950 line under the title "Ready To Serve". Work is nicely lined and beautifully framed and in pristine original untouched condition with a large Brown & Bigelow published Calendar of artwork included in sale.

An Iron in the Fire
Vaughan Bass (1940s-50s)
Grapefruit Moon Gallery is delighted to offer a fresh (in all respects!) original oil on canvas pin-up painting by Vaughan Bass for The Louis F. Dow Calendar Company. A young strawberry-blonde nude bombshell with a curling iron readying herself for a night out on the town. A never on the market before fabulous estate find by this under valued and very talented and prolific calendar artist. Work is on original pine stretchers and in a very fine state of conservation, in all regards "The Great American Pin-up".

Bullseye
Winer (1940s)
A 1940s gouache painting on illustration board showing a silk stockings wearing heartbreaker exposing her garter and getting the worst of a little winter fun. This is by the pin-up artist Winer who created numerous covers for the pin-up magazine titles of the day such as Beauty Parade, Titter, and Wink. Work is unsigned but comes from a Los Angeles estate which featured several signed examples by the artist similar in all regards and artistic aspects.

Port 'O Dreams
Enoch Bolles (1925)
A rare surviving early signed cover painting by Enoch Bolles for the October 1925 issue of Film Fun Magazine. A delightful modernist flapper girl envisioned as only Bolles could see, titled "Port 'O Dreams". Painting is initialed lower middle and in a fine state of preservation. Recent auction records for this artist have topped $30,000.00 and as collectors know his original cover works are very scarce.

Petty Girl, September 1956
George Petty (1956)
George Petty's enormously successful career as an illustrator began in the mid-1920s painting magazine covers and images of beautiful girls for calendars. The creation that made him legendary debuted in the first issue of Esquire magazine in 1933. The "Petty Girl," with her dreamy curves and witty banter, quickly became a popular symbol of the American male's feminine ideal.Esquire produced two other calendars by Petty in 1955 and 1956. This painting appeared as the September Petty Girl in the 1956 Esquire calendar. Rendered in watercolor on board, nicely framed and ready to hang.

Hi, Neighbor
Rolf Armstrong (1944)
A delightful and never before offered on the market large and sensational Brown & Bigelow commissioned pastel illustration by Rolf Armstrong, featuring a sassy and sexy stylized southwestern attired cowgirl in traditional charro hat, riding pants and and tassled boots. From the zenith of Armstrong's long tenure as "The Father of American Pin-up". A 1944 large Brown & Bigelow Calendar of image titled "Hi, Neighbor" is included in sale. Among the finest Armstrong works we have ever owned.

Come on Over
Art Frahm (1950s)
A delightful and rare surviving Art Frahm pin-up Calendar oil painting likely commissioned by The Joseph Hoover Calendar Company. This was from the collection of the late Charles Martignette, co-author of "The Great American Pin-up". Verso indicates the work was done by Vaughan Bass but it is clearly initialed lower left by Art Frahm and is the work of Frahm without question. This was likely mislabeled years ago by a Calendar Company printer or office worker.

Sunny
Paul Kafka (1952)
A large, luminous pastel created as pin up calendar art for the Thomas D. Murphy Calendar Company of Red Oak Iowa. This colorful and bright mid-century bathing beauty scene by the artist Paul Kafka was marketed under the title "Sunny." Nicely framed and properly lined under glass. A multi-image color separation proof series and finished calendar print is included in sale as well as a complete Calendar line Salesman Sample Brochure for the year 1952 titled "The Murphy Record Prize Edition; What Lines!". Featuring this calendar girl as the cover by The Thos. D. Murphy Calendar Company.

A Word With Polly
Al Brule (1950s)
A 1950s painting by Al Brule created on commission for the Shaw-Barton Calendar Company; scene features a modern formally attired heartbreaker with her colorful parrot as was often the scene. Included in sale is a vintage calendar print of this work, titled "A Word With Polly".

Brule was a Chicago area illustrator whose style closely resembled Haddon Sundblom and his circle of Chicago artists.



Erotic Nude
Pal Fried (1940s)
A ravishing and deeply erotic nude oil on canvas painting by Pal Fried. Perhaps the most beautiful and inspired Fried work we have seen. Beautifully framed and in a fine state of preservation, a monumental example by this noted and prolific artist and illustrator.

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