Pin-Ups Gil Elvgren Book

This Taschen portfolio contains 14 framable prints by Gil Elvgren, the master of pin-up art. Post-Depression USA was in desperate need of a defining iconography that would lift it out of the black and white doldrums, and it came in the form of Gil Elvgren's technicolor fantasies of the American dream. From the mid-30s to the 60s his painted advertisements and posters for, among others, Coca-Cola, Ovomaltine and Pangburn's Chocolates, as well as the long-running Brown & Bigelow calendars, were a bright red-white-and-blue account of the country's aspirations, joys and hopes. As the country plunged into World War II he provided the troops with pin-up girls galore. His technique involved photographing models and then painting them into gorgeous hyper-reality, with longer legs, more flamboyant hair and gravity-defying busts, and in the process making them the perfect morale-boosting eye-candy for every homesick private. Elvgren defined the classic "pop" vision of Americana: a bold, brash visualization that has been endlessly appropriated and recycled in advertising, TV, film and art. His style is instantly recognizable, and its appeal endures thanks to its essentially open avowal of a zest for pleasure.