Dampened Doll 1967

Gil Elvgren’s "Dampened Doll" is an oil painting that captures a breezy, pin-up moment with creamy yellows, browns, and whites dominating the palette. I imagine Elvgren building up the image, stroke by stroke, as if sculpting with light and shadow. I feel like he’s thinking about the tradition of classical painting but wants to capture the fleeting quality of a photograph. The light is bouncing around and the strokes are so confident, that I can almost feel the energy in his hand as he swished the brush around the canvas. Look at that juicy splash of white paint he added as an afterthought to evoke a burst of water. The way the light reflects off the tile, the soft curves of the figure—it’s like he’s speaking in a language of gesture and texture. The overall feeling is playful, even mischievous, and this piece reminds us that painting is a conversation across time and place. Each brushstroke builds upon those that came before.