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Looked down on by scholars, pinups have always been perceived as pop- art, at best, and vulgar commercial illustrations or even pornography, at worst. I propose we take a closer look at the bare facts about pinups.

Postmodern art has given way for some strange, questionable works. From Marcel Duchamp's “Fountain”, to John Issacs' grotesque sculptures. Many people will ask in frustration: “That's art?!”

A lot of people feel the same way about pinups. Being part of the postmodern era, I believe that anything goes and that everything means something (and as such means nothing, but that's for the postmodern blog to decipher ;) ). So I took it upon myself to analyze a pinup painting, in the most basic ways, and see if I can find out a deeper meaning to pinup art.

The Bear Facts by Gil Elvgren
This is one of my favorite pinups of all time and Elvgren is one of the most prolific pinup artists of all time. When conjuring up the image of a pinup girl, we usually imagine one of Elvgren's girls. But let us look at her with unbiased eyes:

Line, Blot and Shape

In addressing a work of art, we start with it's basic components. The Bear Facts is made of blots (especially apparent in the rug at the background). The blots, in most cases are smoothed out, to create a soft gradient, mimicking reality (hence there is no use of lines). The outline, is a suggestive outline- it forms as a result of two bordering color patches, this also assists in creating the illusion of reality.

The whole composition can be broken down into 4, well defined, inconclusive shapes: The red fore-ground, the red background, the bearskin rug and the woman (also divided into black and white). These shapes are closed, as you can see in this illustration, each area is accentuated by either color or tonality differences.

Representation of Space

Although The Bear Facts strives to create the illusion of reality, its representation of space is very much conceptual (contrary to optical). There is no real use of perspective, only a gradient of colors (as seen in this attempt to digitally recreate the missing background). Also assisting in creating the illusion of spatial depth, is the fact that the woman is covering the top portion of the painting, making it seem as though it is behind her. All the while, leaving the bottom portion of the painting revealed, makes it seem like there is space between her and us- the viewer.

Pertaining us- the viewer, it seems we are pretty close to the woman. This illusion occurs, because the relative space left at the bottom, compared to the woman's proportions, in the picture, is small. Look at this illustration, how close are you to the woman, now?

You could say you're touching her, at this point.

We, the viewer, are also a bit taller than the woman. I wouldn't say we're standing, maybe we're sitting on a couch, a few feet away. Do you see how this slowly turns into an intimate seduction scene?

Color
There is a whole lot to be said about color and color theories, but we're talking about sexy women, on this blog, so I'd rather not digress. There is a lot we can understand about the use of color in Pinup art, just by analyzing it in Elvgren's The Bear Facts.

As I've mentioned before, the colors in The Bear Facts are used to define shape (suggestive outlines form of two bordering color patches). Using tonality, Elvgren accentuates the “main event”- the woman on the rug- the red background is unimportant, it is a dark frame for a bright colored body. (That being said, we can't disregard the psychological aspects of color. As it is, by now, commonly known, red is a color that arouses passion, lust and violence. It's a commonly used color in pinup art, especially as lip and cheek color.) The human eye is lured towards the bright areas of a painting, as such, the dark negligee is used to accentuate the breasts and the thigh area between the negligee and the stocking line.

The colors, of course are local colors, meaning they are portrayed as they would appear in reality. This is persistent with the gradient style of blending, mentioned earlier, creating an illusionary texture. By now, it's pretty obvious, Elvgren is trying to mimic reality.

This is also evident in the “lighting effects”. Classically speaking, the type of lighting in The Bear Facts is referred to as dramatic lighting. This is an anomaly, in pinups, as most pinups are lit in homogeneous lighting, creating a bright and “light” atmosphere of playfulness and fun. In spite of that, I have a sneaking suspicion that the lighting in The Bare Facts is not trying to be dramatic, but intimately dim. Also, it seems to be acting as a spotlight on the woman.

Composition
The Bear Facts' composition is generally centered- there is no doubt as to what this painting is about.

In addition, there are, typically Elvgren, hypothetical diagonal lines going through the painting. These lines give the painting a bit more of a dynamic feel. In pinup art, we are usually dealing with a pretty static composition- beautiful woman sitting in an arousing position, so it's a common practice, of pinup artists, to make the composition more dynamic, using these imaginary composition lines.

Iconology
At this point we'll take a more semantic, holistic approach, to the painting. This is the point where most contradictions and disagreements arise (so use the comment section to enrich this analysis ;) ).

We actually already established most of what's going on here. Elvgren is conjuring a fantasy, but he's doing it in a realistic manner. This woman is so real, you can almost touch her. The lighting is “just right”, and the viewer's vicinity is close enough to be in the room, but not close enough to touch- Elvgren is teasing us. I stand by the idea that the viewer maybe sitting on a couch. Maybe he (I highly doubt this is a lesbian fantasy, but feel free to contradict me), is holding a hard drink, in a Hugh Hefner robe, and this pretty lady is preforming for him (hence the spotlight effect). Of course, this is my own association about this scenario, and it probably changes from person to person.

This painting is all about seduction. Even the format on which the painting was intended to be seen- the Brown & Bigelow calenders. This painting was not to be displayed at an art gallery. It was to be massed produced, and would be consumed by a male target audience, and utilized either privately, or hung publicly in testosterone-heavy environments (the army, an auto garage etc.).

The woman, as real as she may seem, is idealized. Her skin is perfect, her face is made up, complete with eyeliner and lipstick, not to mention the features, which are perfectly symmetrical and exaggerated, to look like a teenage girl. Her body is befitting the trend, at the time- plump and juicy (think Marilyn Monroe). I also doubt that her position is sustainable, as she isn't completely seated on the bearskin (this strengthens my theory of her being in mid-performance).

The bearskin rug is a common pinup theme. My guess is that the bear represents an animalistic sexuality, in most cases. However, in The Bare Fact's case, I think it's possible that the bear is an actual male presence in the painting. In most versions of this painting, the bear has a vacant- dead animal look, in it's eyes. In Elvgren's painting, the bear seems to be alive and aware of the viewer (which is probably male), and is actually smiling at us. It's almost like a horny wink.

I also think the bear, as a pinup accessory, adds a sense of touch, to the painting. The idea of the fur against the bare skin of the model, is very effective in evoking an actual sensual sensation, in the brain.

Elvgren's Pinups
No analysis would be complete, without involving the artist and his past works. Most of Elvgren's girls look like the same woman with different hair. Although he had several models (the likes of Myrna Loy, Donna Reed , Barbara Hale and Kim Novak), none of these mature, femme fatale personalities seem to come through Elvgren's girl-next-door filter. Most of his pinups were well-lit and were not responsible for their exposed garters. Even in The Bare Facts, which is an Elvgren anomaly, the woman has a sweet expression on her face. Less that of a sexually inviting woman, and more that of an innocent girl, working her charms on her father (not hinting at anything unsavory, here- get over it ;) ).

Elvgren makes an attempt at more mature work, in this later piece, but just can't take it seriously enough to make it hard-core pornography. The playfulness of Elvgren's pieces is what makes pinups so much fun. They make sex seem like fun. Fun aside, as an artist, I admire Elvgren's skill. I also believe his compositions are too complex, to just be cast aside as mere pornography, or commercial illustration, and I sincerely hope, I've managed to prove it, as well.

For a fuller appreciation of pinup art,