Looking for Trouble 1950

Gil Elvgren’s painting, Looking for Trouble, depicts a woman on a staircase, painted with oils on, what looks like, canvas board. There’s a real sense of theatrics here. She holds a candle like she’s in some kind of melodrama, or waiting for her cue in a play, holding a gun up while her foot is elegantly placed as though about to flee! I can imagine Elvgren coaxing the model to strike a dramatic pose, his hand deftly working with the oil paints to capture the light filtering through her negligee. There’s a playful tension between the shadows and light, the dark background with the highlights on her face. All the while, a white cat stares, poised like it’s ready for action! This painting reminds me of so many others who capture intimate moments, like Degas, for example, with his dancers backstage, or Manet’s barmaid at the Folies-Bergère. Here, Elvgren invites us into a scene that is both staged and surprisingly intimate.