Earl Moran pinup artist
Earl Moran was one of the 20th century's most important pinup artists and a true star in the pinup world
Earl Moran (1893 - 1984)The inception of Earl Moran's vibrant career as a pinup artist could be narrowed to 1932 when Moran signed an exclusive contract with Brown & Bigelow who eventually sold millions of calendars graced with his sensual art deco pinup girls.
This photo dates from around 1933-1936.
Earl Steffa Moran was born in Belle Plaine, Iowa, US. Moran's first instruction in art came under the direction of John Stich, an elderly German artist who also taught the great illustrator W.H.D. Koerner. Moran also studied with Walter Biggs at the Chicago Art Institute and then at the famed Art Students League in Manhattan where he studied under Vincent Dumond, Robert Henri, George Bridgman and Thomas Fogarty (Norman Rockwell's teacher).
Earl Moran was a master of
pastels, though he showed little if any influence of reigning Brown &
Bigelow star Rolf Armstrong, whose domain he encroached upon in the '30s.
Moran was soon a
superstar himself, creating lively, sexy girls whose relationship with the
viewer was seldom a teasing one. Unlike Gil Elvgren and others, Moran did not
continually re-work one type of situation, and his pinups have more
variety than any other major contributor to the field.
Moran was a photographer, as well as an illustrator which lent well in his portrait pinups by giving him a great knowledge of lighting and shadows.
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