Pearl Frush

Pearl Alice Frush (March 20, 1907 – December 1986) was an American pin-up and glamour illustration artist during the golden era of the calendar art market.[1][2] Pearl ranked amongst the top three female glamour artists, along with Joyce Ballantyne, and Zoë Mozert. They were a rare "Girl's Club" within the predominantly male pin-up masters of mid-century illustration: Alberto Vargas, George Petty, and Gil Elvgren.[3] According to the co-author of The Great American Pin-Up, Louis K. Meisel, "Frush's technical brilliance was such that, upon close examination, her works even begin to take on a photographic clarity. Those knowledgeable collectors who have studied her paintings have often judged her the equal of Alberto Vargas in artistic excellence."[4] Like Vargas she depicted women in provocative poses, however, she showed them with more proportional bodies than Vargas.[5] She sometimes signed her paintings with her [then] married names "Pearl Frush-Brudon" or "Pearl Mann". One of her most recognizable and enduring contributions to American advertising iconography was her original rendering of Little Debbie® McKee, for McKee Foods in 1960.[6]

  1. ^ Charles G. Martignette and Louis K. Meisel (1999)"The Great American Pin-Up" Taschen. p.242
  2. ^ Tim Smith; Michelle Smith (2009). Joliet's Gerlach Barklow Calendar Company. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 115–. ISBN 978-0-7385-7726-5.
  3. ^ Lisa Hix: Pin-Up Queens: Three Female Artists Who Shaped the American Dream Girl, Collectors Weekly, Published May 22, 2013.
  4. ^ Charles G. Martignette and Louis K. Meisel (1999) "The Great American Pin-Up" Taschen. p. 41
  5. ^ Brown, Kathryn M. (2010). Patriotic Support: The Girdle Pin-Up of World War II (Thesis). University of Akron.
  6. ^ "McKee Foods Corporation ---- Our Brands". Archived from the original on 2013-08-13. Retrieved 2014-04-06.