barracuda wrote:Yummy! That's a great Elvgren! And the pin-up theme reminded me of one of my favorite pinups of all time, by Art Frahm, which, happily does have a bird involved, and in a most sexualized fashion:
That's beautiful. I always love it when they go for the subtlety.

It's off-topic, but though I agree that the adorable dumb cluck who burned dinner and may or may not be about to start humping a hot stove door is yummy**, I also really do find it anxiety-provoking. Because, you know: Ouch.
But imo, Elvgren was just a little bit sicker than most of his fellow top-tier pin-up artistes of the '30s to '60s were. Though it probably wouldn't be at all discomfiting if it weren't usually cloaked in happy, dumb American girl-ette wholesomeness. Because there's nothing at all wrong with openly vivacious superfreakiness:

And while it's positively an unpatriotic not to salute our puritan roots by refusing to respond to a little bit of the hot and titillating tension that naturally arises in the presence of suppressed superfreakiness, just because of some dull-but-worthy principle....


....it does sometimes feel like you're seeing his girls through the eyes of someone who's only seconds away from violently assaulting them with a blunt instrument.

Know what I mean?
**On edit: L.H.O.O.Q.