Pin-up model
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"FIRST, LET us not confuse the pin-up girl with the pornographic or erotic imagery that dates from the dark backward and abysm of time. The pinup girl is a specific erotic phenomenon, both as to form and function." --"Entomology of the Pin-Up Girl" (1946) by André Bazin |
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A pin-up girl or pin-up model is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as pop culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display. Pin-up girls are often glamour models, fashion models, and actresses.
Many “pin ups” were photographs of celebrities who were considered sex symbols. One of the most popular early pin-up girls was Betty Grable. Her poster was ubiquitous in the lockers of G.I.s during World War II. Others pin-ups were artwork, often depicting idealized versions of what some thought a particularly beautiful or attractive woman should look like. The genre also gave rise to several well-known artists specializing in the field, including Alberto Vargas and George Petty, and numerous lesser artists such as Art Frahm.
The term “cheesecake” is synonymous with “pin-up photo”. These days men can be considered “pin ups” as well and there are male equivalents of attractive and sexy actors such as Brad Pitt or numerous male models. The counterpart term to “cheesecake” is “beefcake”.
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History
The term "pin-up girl" was first attested to in English in 1941; however the practice is documented back at least to the 1890s. The “pin up” images could be cut out of magazines or newspapers, or be from postcard or chromo-lithographs, and so on. Such photos often appear on calendars, which are meant to be pinned up anyway. Later, posters of “pin-up girls” were mass-produced. An early example was the Gibson girl, drawn by Charles Dana Gibson, but tracing its antecedents to Europe, one finds the work of Alphonse Mucha, Jules Chéret and Raphael Kirchner in the 19th century.
Kitschy incarnations of academic art such as Psyche at Nature's Mirror by Paul Thumann, the work of Howard Chandler Christy, Harrison Fisher, Angelo Asti ("Colette" (1903), by Brown & Bigelow) and the controversial September Morn by Paul Chabas (censored by the New York Society for the Supression of Vice) are good fin de siecle examples of pin-ups. Further American developments saw the work of Mabel Rollins Harris, Maxfield Parrish and Hy Hintermeister.
Notable pin-up girls
1910s and 1920s
- Vilma Bánky
- Belle Bennett
- Clara Bow
- Mary Brian
- Louise Brooks
- Camille Clifford
- Betty Compson
- Bebe Daniels
- Marion Davies
- Billie Dove
- Ruth Etting
- Barbara Kent
- Bessie Love
- Barbara La Marr
- Colleen Moore
- Mae Murray
- Nita Naldi
- Alla Nazimova
- Pola Negri
- Anita Page
- Lillian Gish
- Mary Pickford
- Gloria Swanson
- Lilyan Tashman
- Olive Thomas
- Alice White
1930s
- Annabella
- Joan Blondell
- Virginia Bruce
- Joan Crawford
- Marlene Dietrich
- Dolores del Río
- Irene Dunne
- Greta Garbo
- Jean Harlow
- Sonja Henie
- Ruby Keeler
- Gypsy Rose Lee
- Carole Lombard
- Myrna Loy
- Sally Rand
- Ginger Rogers
- Barbara Stanwyck
- Thelma Todd
- Lupe Vélez
- Mae West
- Toby Wing
1940s
- Lauren Bacall
- Diana Barrymore
- Ingrid Bergman
- Vivian Blaine
- Linda Darnell
- Bette Davis
- Yvonne De Carlo
- Gloria De Haven
- Olivia de Havilland
- Lisa Fonssagrives
- Ava Gardner
- Judy Garland
- Betty Grable
- Kathryn Grayson
- Jane Greer
- Anne Gwynne
- Susan Hayward
- Rita Hayworth
- June Haver
- Lena Horne
- Candy Jones
- Veronica Lake
- Hedy Lamarr
- Dorothy Lamour
- Carole Landis
- Joan Leslie
- Viveca Lindfors
- Marilyn Maxwell
- Marie McDonald
- Ann Miller
- Carmen Miranda
- Maria Montez
- Gloria Nord
- Maureen O'Hara
- Frances Rafferty
- Ella Raines
- Donna Reed
- Jane Russell
- Olga San Juan
- Ann Sheridan
- Alexis Smith
- Gene Tierney
- Lana Turner
- Esther Williams
- Marie Wilson
- Shelley Winters
1950s
- Pier Angeli
- Carroll Baker
- Brigitte Bardot
- Candy Barr
- Virginia Bell
- Betty Brosmer
- Jeanne Carmen
- Cyd Charisse
- Mara Corday
- Hazel Court
- Dagmar
- Dorothy Dandridge
- Sandra Dee
- Faith Domergue
- Diana Dors
- Anita Ekberg
- Gloria Grahame
- Myrna Hansen
- Barbara Hale
- Allison Hayes
- Betty Hutton
- Eartha Kitt
- Joi Lansing
- Gina Lollobrigida
- Sophia Loren
- Jayne Mansfield
- Irish McCalla
- Marilyn Monroe
- Elizabeth Montgomery
- Cleo Moore
- Barbara Nichols
- Sheree North
- Kim Novak
- Maila Nurmi
- Bettie Page
- Suzy Parker
- Barbara Payton
- Barbara Rush
- Sabrina
- Gia Scala
- Lili St. Cyr
- Tempest Storm
- Märta Torén
- Mamie Van Doren
1960s
- Pamela Green
- Tina Louise
- Claudia Cardinale
- Margaret Nolan
- Ursula Andress
- Ann Margaret
- June Palmer
- Twiggy
- June Wilkinson
1970s
- Loni Anderson
- Catherine Bach
- Adrienne Barbeau
- Barbi Benton
- Jacqueline Bisset
- Farrah Fawcett
- Cheryl Ladd
- Peggy Lipton
- Julie Newmar
- Suzanne Somers
- Cheryl Tiegs
- Raquel Welch
1980s
- Samantha Fox
- Monique Gabrielle
- Tawny Kitaen
- Kelly LeBrock
- Linnea Quigley
- Heather Thomas
- Christie Brinkley
1990s
- Kelly Brook
- Cindy Crawford
- Carmen Electra
- Linda Evangelista
- Cindy Margolis
- Jenny McCarthy
- Anna Nicole Smith
- Claudia Schiffer
- Alicia Silverstone
2000s
- Jami Deadly
- Bernie Dexter
- Loulou von Brochwitz
- Masuimi Max
- Eva Green
- Heidi Van Horne
- Dita Von Teese
- Veronica Varlow
Other kinds of pin-ups
In comic books, a pin-up is simply a full-page piece of artwork, most often without dialogue, that showcases a character, group of characters, or significant event, published within an issue, rather than made available by itself as a poster.
In professionally published fan magazines for films and television series, a posed photograph of actors or actresses from the subject matter, but might also showcase specific scenes from the subject matter in photograph form (called stills) are occasionally called pin-ups. The label is very casual, though, as these types of fan media are more accurately described as posters.
Pin-ups are also referred to as cheesecake, the male counterpart being beefcake.
See also
- striptease
- Exotic painting
- Alberto Vargas
- Bad girl art
- Beefcake
- Bombshell (sex symbol)
- Gil Elvgren
- Good girl art
- Gravure idol
- Irving Klaw
- List of pinup artists
- Nose art
- Page three girl
- Sweater girl
- "Entomology of the Pin-Up Girl" (1946) by André Bazin
- List of pinup artists