Post-depression America was in desperate need of a defining iconography that would lift it out of the black and white doldrums, and it came in the form of Gil Elvgren’s Technicolor fantasies of the American dream. His technique—which earned him a reputation as "The Norman Rockwell of cheesecake"—involved photographing models and then painting them into gorgeous hyper-reality, with longer legs, more flamboyant hair and gravity-defying busts, and in the process making them the perfect moral-boosting eye-candy for every homesick private.

"Glamour is back... TASCHEN offers us a look back at these calendar and advertisement goddesses of which Gil Elvgren is king." erotisme-fr.com, France
The authors
Charles G. Martignette was an art dealer and collector of original paintings by 20th century American illustrators and artists. His gallery in Hallandale Beach, Florida, housed the world’s largest collection of commercial illustration art. As of 1975 he published numerous articles about magazine, advertising, calendar, pulp, paperback, glamour and pin-up art. Paintings from his collection have been exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution as well as many other American and European museums. Charles G. Martignette died in 2008 in Hallandale, Florida.

Louis K. Meisel, owner-manager of one of the oldest galleries in New York’s Soho, has published several books and articles on contemporary art. In addition to art, he collects pin-up work.