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Blue Sports Car Arnolt Bristol - Mid-Century Good Life - Playboy Cartoon

Creator: Ben Denison - Playboy Magazine
Offered by: Robert Funk Fine Art

Description
The punchline on many of these 1950s cartoons fades, but the visuals more than hold up - they shine.
The sleek, graphic style of painting with flat, broad areas of color shows that Ben Denison, along with a few other illustrators of the time, invented a new style that endures and may have inspired many ultra-contemporary artists who refer back to them for inspiration. It's a quintessentially Mid-American look. Denison crafts a narrative with clean lines, flat shapes, and a bright, contrasting color palette, distilling it into simple visual forms. Moreover, the work serves as a time capsule of an aspirational life that Playboy magazine presented to its predominantly male readers. An urbane, handsome young man sits in his cool sports car at Lover's Lane with a hot blond in his lap. How can life be better?
Signed lower right: Denison
The present work is published for "Denison's Sports Cars" on page 25 in the August 1957 issue of Playboy with the caption: "I'm tired of sneaking around like this. Just what does your husband have against me anyway?" The work also appears on page 13 of Playboy 50 Years: The Cartoons by Hugh Hefner (Chronicle Books, 2004).

Framed under glass in a new high-end metal frame. Frame size 21.75 x 18.25

More Information

Documentation:	Signed
Origin:	United States, Illinois
Period:	1950-1979
Materials:	Gouache In Illustration Board
Condition:	Good. Excellent
Creation Date:	1957
Styles / Movements:	Modernism, Contemporary, Illustration
Incollect Reference #:	825839

Dimensions

W.	10.5 in;	H.	14 in;
W.	26.67 cm;	H.	35.56 cm;

Message from Seller:

Robert Funk Fine Art in Miami offers an eclectic collection shaped by 45 years of experience, blending art with commercial perspectives. For inquiries or art advisory services, contact Robert Funk at decoypoet@yahoo.com or 305.857.0521.