High and Shy 1950

Gil Elvgren made this painting, "High and Shy", with oils probably sometime in the mid-20th century. Look at the blue sky and the yellow diving board, and you can imagine the artist layering colors, trying to capture the sheen of the girl's bathing suit. It’s all soft curves, and you just know that he spent ages getting that pin-up girl’s face just right. I can picture Elvgren in his studio, maybe pausing to adjust the lighting or grab another brush. What was he thinking as he painted each stroke? Was he trying to create a kind of dream? Or was he just focused on capturing the light on her skin? Maybe a bit of both? And that diving board – such a simple shape, but the way he’s painted it, you can feel the tension of her body, the slight wobble as she considers whether to jump. It’s a bit like Matisse’s cut-outs, where simple shapes and colors create a whole world of feeling. You see that little signature in the corner? It's like he is winking at us from art history.