Nude Portrait 

This oil painting is an example of Gil Elvgren’s work, an artist who specialized in pin-up art. Elvgren was one of the foremost artists in a tradition that began in the early 20th century, producing idealized images of women for calendars and magazines. The genre developed and became extremely popular in the USA during and after the Second World War. Pin-up art often reflected the male gaze, offering an appealing and non-threatening image of femininity to a predominantly male audience. In this painting, the female figure is placed in a domestic setting. The model’s body is idealized, following specific cultural conventions of beauty. Was Elvgren offering a progressive vision of female identity? Or was he simply reproducing existing social norms? These are the questions we can ask when we look at pin-up art in terms of cultural and institutional history. With access to archives and historical records, we can find out much more about the social and cultural conditions that shaped the production and reception of these images.