It Will Take More than One Evening Out… 1969

Gil Elvgren’s girl in a pink dress is painted with a kind of off-hand brushiness, all soft focus and blurred edges. I can see the ghost of Rococo masters like Fragonard in the way he whips up the fabric of that dreamy dress. The title makes me imagine a studio scene, the model perched there, wearing the dress, while Elvgren stares at her, trying to find a way to make painting pay, and, at the same time, paint a pretty picture. I wonder, what was on his mind as he decided to capture the sheen on that satin or the exact curve of her smile? I picture him thinking about Boucher, about pin-ups, about how it’s all connected. Painting is like that, this funny conversation through time. One artist borrows from another, tweaks an idea, and then passes it on. Elvgren is winking at art history, knowing full well that a girl in a pink dress can be both high art and low brow, sometimes at the very same time.