Anchors A-Wow, reference photo
Attributed to Gil Elvgren on the source record · 1950
- Attribution
- Gil Elvgren, per the source record
- Dated
- 1950
- Medium
- Studio photograph
- Reuse
- Public domain in the US
Studio reference photograph, 1950Source record & reuse status
The studio reference photograph behind Gil Elvgren's Anchors A-Wow, dated 1950 in the source record. A smiling woman in a sailor top, beret and dark shorts climbs a ship's mast in a studio while a man sits behind it and holds the prop steady. Nothing in the picture is a ship.
What the scaffolding tells you
The mast is a set piece, the ladder is for footing, and the seated man exists to keep the prop upright while the model holds the pose. The smile is aimed at the camera. The legs are braced against a support that will be erased before the painting is finished.
This is the most instructive kind of image in a pin-up collection, because it shows the working method rather than the finished product: a pose built out of props, then repainted as if it were spontaneous.
What the record says, and what this page leaves out
The file page describes the photograph as the reference photo for Anchors A-Wow and dates it to 1950. Its title names a model, but the name in the title does not sit consistently with the date on the record, so no model is named on this page.
The painting itself was released later than the sitting, which is the ordinary gap between a reference photograph and a finished calendar picture.
