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| Carhop Pin-Up at a Roadside Diner |
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| Artist: | William Medcalf |
| Date: | 1940s - early 50s |
| Medium: | Oil On Stetched Canvas |
| Dimensions: | Sight size 26" x 57" Framed 28 1/2" x 59 1/2" |
| Condition: | Mint |
| Original Use: | Calendar art for The Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company |
| Price: | $40,000.00
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| Above: Detail |
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| Above: The artist's signature |
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| Above: Detail of carhop pin-up girl |
One of two recently unearthed and previously thought lost large original Brown & Bigelow pin-up oil paintings created for the iconic "Kelly-Springfield's Celebrity Tires" advertising campaign. A luminous and ethereal large masterwork by William Medcalf, dating to the late 1940s. For this assignment the artist created an inviting yet unlikely roadside mirage, featuring a classic and beautiful pin-up girl as an able diner carhop server alongside a modernist machine age concept car under a palm tree-laden majestic surround. The blend of familiar and fantasy is at play here and the art seems to hint at the ongoing cultural collision that was being evidenced as progress and industry advanced into ever increasing aspects of culture.
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| Above: Framed view |
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| Above: Detail |
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| Above: Detail of futuristic car |
The futuristic concept car evokes the streamlined machine age of design, and the dreamy car-side pin-up defines the flirtatious girl-next-door beauties who were popularized in the post World War II era by Gil Elvgren and Brown & Bigelow's unsurpassed stable of pin-up artists. William Medcalf in particular was known for his ability to impart a vibrancy and timeliness in his pin-up advertising works, and for his attention to detail - which led to his obtaining many of the calendar giant's most visible and prestigious accounts, all of which is on display to fine effect in this impactful and previously thought lost treasure. By all accounts, a very special work with cross-collectible appeal and among the finest surviving examples of pin-up art by Medcalf that has surfaced to date. This large and luminous painting comes framed in a simple gold wood frame retains original stretcher bars with Brown & Bigelow company notations clearly visible.
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| Above: Brown & Bigelow notations on verso |
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| Above: Full view of verso |
This painting has never been offered for sale before and is a large and luminous important surviving example of "The Great American Pin-up".
Search for more art by William Medcalf
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