Gil Elvgren

"Stepping Out" by Gil Elvgren

30x24in

Oil on Canvas

"Finders Keepers" by Gil Elvgren

28x33in

Oil on Canvas

1945 (calender)

     Gil Elvgren was born in St. Paul Minnesota, 1914. As a young man he would collect hundreds of covers from magazines and over time the tear outs would start to pile up, month after month where he later had a collection that influence his talent to draw.  He graduated at the age of 22 from the Minneapolis Art Institute, where he begun a career at an advertising agency where he contributed work for Coco Cola ads. In 1937 he worked for one of America's leading publishing companies where he started painting calendar pin-ups. In 1944, Gil was offered a $1000 per pin-up where he produced 20 calender girls each year. He used models that were around the age 20 and use their spunky personality to gain ideas for his work.  The artwork revealed women in embarrassing moments such as wind gusts blowing up dresses getting caught in elevator doors or dogs leashes wrapping their legs. Gil Elvgren's work was most in not all done on oil on canvas and painted 30x24in. Gil stated, "A gal with highly mobile facial features capable of a wide range of expressions is the real jewel, the face is the personality."

      He became a household name and was known to be the best pin-up artist in the world.  Gil's paintings led the phrase ,"A picture is worth a thousand words."