if you appreciate art prints of the 20s to the 70s, then we suppose you will dig pin-ups. pin-ups, which were a rage over those decades, were drawings, paintings and pastels of an idealized female face and figure intended for public display and were often seen on calendars, magazine covers and at one point, even on military bomber aircraft. there are nothing sexist about pin-ups; they were just art expressions that were strangely attractive and ok, maybe sexy. if you share as much passion as us on this topic, then we are sure you will love The Art of Pin-up by Dian Hanson, Sarahjane Blum, Louis Meisel published by TASCHEN. it contains over 500 pages, covering the top 10 artists in this discipline, in-depth profiles, their works, as well as thumbnail bios and representative art of 80 additional artists – of which, many were photographed on-site at the historic Brown & Bigelow Company, home to world’s largest archive of vintage pin-up calendars.
the fact that the majority of those original paintings were discarded by publishers and calendar companies after printing, making whatever surviving works all the more precious and appealing. we must say, pin-ups are a lost art, which we doubt will ever make a return. it is just part of a history which we shall always cherish. if you are huge fan of pin-ups, whether for the beauty of the make believe ladies or simply appreciating the every brush stroke and vibrancy of these paintings, The Art of Pin-up will have a place in your ultimate pin-up shrine. it is in hardcover, so i guess it also makes an awesome coffee table book too. you can pre-order yours now on Amazon for $128.74.
p.s. at 19.3 x 13 x 2.9 inches (49 x 33 x 7.3 cm) and 13.6 lbs heavy, you are going to need pretty big and sturdy coffee table – if you are going to make this your coffee table book.
