Sitting Pretty 1955

Gil Elvgren made this painting called 'Sitting Pretty' in the style of pin-up art, with a focus on idealized glamour. I can imagine Elvgren’s process being very meticulous; he probably worked from photographs and made numerous sketches before even touching the canvas. Look at the smooth surfaces and controlled brushstrokes – they give this piece a polished, almost hyper-real quality. Her pose is playfully provocative, and she knows it. It feels like Elvgren really wanted to capture her vitality. The red and white check shirt and the bright red boots just pop against the muted tones of the barrel she’s perched on. There's a sense of artifice but that's ok; Elvgren seemed to enjoy exploring these constructed images of femininity. Painters like Elvgren were definitely in dialogue with commercial culture. They were both reflecting and shaping the aesthetic desires of their time. It makes me think about how we still use images to project ideals, and how the act of painting is always a kind of performance.