Magician’s Assistant 

Edward Runci created this image of a magician's assistant as part of the pin-up art tradition. Pin-up art gained traction in the 1940s and 50s as a response to the social climate of the United States during and after World War II. There was a growing sense of optimism, and the pin-up became a symbol of idealized femininity. These images helped shape ideas around gender and beauty. The "girl next door" look was popular, but it often involved an ambivalent attitude towards female emancipation, as it tended to reinforce traditional roles. Runci was part of a commercial system that included magazine publishers and calendar companies. As a historian, I'm interested in how institutions like these helped to create a visual culture that spoke to its own time, but which we can now see more critically. We can access the social history of art through magazines and other archival sources. These shed light on the place of the artist and the role of their work.