1939 Elvgren Pin-Up Calendar “A Knockout”

Description

Vintage late 1930s/early 1940s pin up print from the Louis F. Dow Calendar Company of St. Paul, Minnesota. A blonde boxer may seem up against the rope, but she’s a knockout, so keep on your toes! By the esteemed Gil Elvgren. Captured here is a gorgous framed 1939 pin-up art piece titled “A Knockout” by the legendary mid century pin-up artist Gillette (Gil) Elvgren, with a 1944 full calendar. This image has not been edited or retouched, it is a scanned copy of the original lithograph. In the early 1970s, Brown & Bigelow (B&B), a publishing company specializing in promotional products, sold off much of the original art used to illustrate its calendars, scratch pads, matchbooks, and other ephemeral products. B&B had initially found success employing popular artists such as Norman Rockwell and Maxfield Parrish, but subsequently became best known for publishing “pin-up” calendars by artists such as Rolf Armstrong, Gil Elvgren, Earl Moran, and Zoë Mozert. With their depictions of glamorous models, movie stars, bathing beauties, and always fashionable but often provocatively dressed women, the pin-up artists captured the zeitgeist of the 1940s and 1950s. When tastes changed in the 1960s, this style of work fell out of favor and was replaced by more graphic and largely photographic imagery. Unaware of the future value of the original illustrations, B&B sold off hundreds of oil paintings and pastels from the company archives. CONDITION: This vintage art print is in very fine near mint condition.