On the Fence 1959

Gil Elvgren painted "On the Fence" with oils, and you can almost smell the linseed as you look at it. Elvgren must have been having fun working on this; it's playful. Look at the crisp whites, the way the red pops! You can see he’s using thin layers of paint, building up the image slowly, carefully. There’s this real tension between the mundane and the va-va-voom that I find really compelling. Elvgren isn't afraid to be a little bit corny, a little bit obvious, and a whole lotta joyful. Other painters can have a dry sense of humor. I think Elvgren's got a wet one! Artists like Elvgren are having a dialogue across time, constantly finding inspiration in each other's work. It’s all one big conversation really. And painting—well, it's just one way of talking.