Miss Sylvania’s Mishap c. 1955

Gil Elvgren made this painting of Miss Sylvania sometime before 1980, but I can't tell you exactly when. Just look at the way he's painted her dress, the pattern following the form, and the way she coyly holds the hem – you just know he loved to paint fabrics, maybe even to paint women! I can see him enjoying the challenge of capturing the way light plays on her skin. It makes me think of Titian and all those other Old Masters who really went to town on the female form. Elvgren really pushes this pin-up girl into a kind of cartoonish extreme, but I can tell he felt real sympathy for her too. It makes you wonder what conversations are happening here – between Elvgren and the history of painting, between him and his model, or between the painting and its audience.