Elvgren, Leyendecker, Vargas and Beyond: Masterpieces of Pin-Up in Dallas Auction Heritage October Illustration Art Auction featuring second installment of offerings from the epic collection of Charles Martignette, Oct. 27
News-Antique.com - Sep 22,2009 - DALLAS, TX -- After the mid-summer results of an auction that re-defined the field of Illustration Art, Heritage Auctions is readying the second round of selections from The Charles Martignette Estate in its Signature Illustration Art Auction, Oct. 27, at Heritage's Design District Annex, 1518 Slocum Street.
"The overwhelming demand and record-setting prices realized in our July 15 auction of just more than 300 pieces of Martignette's collection showed us that it's a whole new ballgame out there when it comes to collecting this magnificent stuff," said Ed Jaster, Vice President of Heritage Auction. "We have every reason to believe that this auction, with its emphasis on pin-up masterpieces - with a deep grouping of Gil Elvgren canvases - will see equal demand and equal excitement."
Martignette's eccentricities and his obsessive pursuit of the art he loved have been much discussed in the 1-1/2 years since his death; as controversial as some of his actions in life may have been, though, there can be absolutely no question that his name, and its relation to the provenance of his more than 4,300-piece collection, will forever be the most important of the entire field, and one of the most famous American Art collections of all-time.
The emphasis of the October auction on some of Martignette's best pin-up acquisitions is led by the king of the genre, Gil Elvgren, with seven incredible pin-up canvases coming on the block from both the Martignette collection and other consignors, all of which are classics of the form. Nowhere is Elvgren's mastery more evident than in his brilliantly colorful, thematically bold and scintillating 1957 painting Something's Bothering You (What's Wrong?), estimated at $30,000-$40,000.
"Demand for great examples of Elvgren pin-ups continues to grow," said Jaster, "and rightly so. By any reckoning, whether looking at his amazing feel for color and form or the six-figure prices his work now demands, Elvgren should be mentioned in the same breath as the greatest of American painters."
Esquire Magazine's original gatefold pin-up artist, is amply represented in the second part of Martignette with a Petty Girl that was drawn not for Esquire, actually, but for its glamour art rival True Magazine, in 1947, almost a decade after Petty left Esquire. In this Pin-Up, a pouting young blond woman stares distractedly off the canvas, cradling a large pink telephone against her right ear, a favorite device of the artist, and one he uses to perfect effect in this piece, estimated at $8,000-$10,000. As immediately evident in the scan, this is perhaps the single most striking Petty to ever come up at public auction.
One of the true highlights of the pin-up section of Martignette is Earl Moran's Golden Hours, easily one of the most beautiful, widely used and famous pieces of glamour art from the 1930s. The brilliant orange background and the delicately filtered light on the model and her blue bathing suit make this one of the most unforgettable offerings of the entire auction, and of Martignette's astounding collection. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000.
