A Warm Welcome 1959

Gil Elvgren painted this oil on canvas called ‘A Warm Welcome’, though the date is unknown. The colours are muted, warm, and inviting, like a diffused sunset, and you can imagine the brushstrokes following the curves of her body and the rounded forms of the marshmallows. There is an interesting contrast in the texture here, with the matte brick of the fireplace next to the glossy sheen of her negligee. The marshmallows too, so carefully shaded and highlighted, almost feel like little sculptures, each one painstakingly rendered and placed. The most interesting thing about the piece, for me, is the expression on her face. Is it a genuine smile or something more performative? It makes you wonder if Elvgren, like Richard Prince, was exploring the blurred line between commercial image-making and something more probing. I think someone like Lisa Yuskavage is a good comparison here, whose paintings also explore the representation of women in art and the tension between desire and discomfort, beauty and the grotesque.