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The Complete Pin-Ups (2008)

by Gil Elvgren(Favorite Author)

4.38 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

3836503050 (ISBN13: 9783836503051)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Taschen

review 1: My mama bought this for me last time we were at the Getty, knowing that I love vintage aesthetics and that I have a soft spot for the cheesiness of pin ups. I finally got around to reading this today and as I flipped through page after page of pretty girls, each with the same perpetually surprised look upon their faces, skirts twisted up high around their waists in increasingly improbable scenarios, I started to wonder a bit. Didn't ole' Gil EVER tire of painting the same thing every time? It's not a waste if you truly enjoy what you're doing, but looking closely at each figure, at the tumultuous play of light and shadow over limb, of that certain spontaneity of movement that gives life to a person's perception of a girl's character so effortlessly captured on canvas, I be... moregan to wonder what would have happened if he had ever been dedicated to painting anything else? What would he have done with his talent if he had been born much later? Painted during a different time?And again, as I flipped through an increasing arsenal of poised nudes, each bland and smiling as the next, I started to wonder about my own internalized male gaze. Before today I would have said "yes" to enjoying pin ups apologetically, bit faced with such a large number of them I have to confess was uneasy. It reminded me of how many of these images were sold because a woman's identity, image and worth could be bought and sold. Today pin up culture is in a very large part reclaimed by women who are either fashion aficionados or take heart in the relaxed attitude the women take to their own nudity (and thank goodness for all that), but what of then? Again, I realized I was uncomfortable with the idea of a bunch of pre-Mad Men era sexist boys and men, viewing these images. I am unreservedly uncomfortable with the attitudes of this time period towards dissecting women's figures and personhood, so why has it taken me this long to realize that the artifacts that this culture has left behind in the shape of Gil Elvgren is equally uncomfortable?I don't expect answers to these questions. It just struck me as particularly odd, that sometimes you can look and look at something, but it's not until every last bit of it is before you, when you realize how extensive something is, that you can be so utterly DONE with it before you even flip the last page.Overall this is a very nicely put together piece of work (Taschen always puts out nice pieces!), and if you really want or have a use for every single painting this man every put out, you could do a lot worse. But what on earth you'd do with every single one, I couldn't even guess at. The subject does get monotonous though, so much that it sent me into a sex-istential crises before I was half was done with it. A pleasant enough distraction for those so inclined. I just happened to discover today, that I am not.
review 2: First of all I need to say thank you for my wonderful Other Half for getting me this gorgeous book, so 'Thank You Baby' :)This is a typically beautiful art book from Taschen which charts the work and life of Gil Elvgren the pop artist and real life MadMen artist. His images were used to advertise everything that made up the mid 20th Century American world, everything from Cola, to war bonds to farming equipment could be found featuring one of his provocative little ladies. Usually these were painted from photographs with a model sometimes recreating the pose again and again in order to capture the correct feel, before essentially being photoshop-ed 1930's style. Everything was made perkier, and cheekier in the final image. What I hadn't noticed before is that often the same image was recreated just in a new outfit so that something very risque with sheer lingerie etc could be toned down and used to sell vacuum cleaners to 1950's housewives. I recognise that these images are probably deeply unPC and that in many ways the naughtier ones are essentially soft porn for the ad industry, but I still really really like the Pin Up image. Like a classic screen siren, they manage to be sexy as hell while usually revealing nothing more than a stretch of bare back, or a naked shoulder. The tops of stockings have never looked so good as they do in these images! I find the gentle titillation and Monroe-esque 'who me?' style of these pictures to be deeply charming and yet highly erotically charged. The fashions shown of the 1930's-1950's are brilliant also, and it is no wonder that the Rockabilly look is so very popular among such a large range of people.Some of the later works from the 1960's and 70's start to get a bit of a 'Carry On' feel that removes some of the charm of the earlier images, but then both decades seem to have lost a lot of style of the past without gaining any of the equality of the modern world in my opinion anyway, so I was never going to find these later images quite as appealing.The book contains a great biographical section discussing the life of Elvgren and his influences, which was fascinating to read.If you like the all American Mid-West girl serving you apple pie with a cheeky pout, this is likely to appeal. Then again it will also appeal to students of advertising history, mid 20th Century popular art, Pin Ups, Burlesque and Vintage style. Pretty darn good! :) less

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