Arthur Ernest Frahm (May 5, 1906 – February 12, 1981) was an American painter and

commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

ist, best known for his

campy Camp is an aesthetic and sensibility that regards something as appealing or amusing because of its heightened level of artifice, affectation and exaggeration, especially when there is also a playful or ironic element. ''Camp'' is historically ...

paintings of

pin-up girl A pin-up model is a model whose mass-produced pictures and photographs have wide appeal within the popular culture of a society. Pin-up models are usually glamour, actresses, or fashion models whose pictures are intended for informal and aesth ...

s in the 1950s. Frahm's playful Americana style has been compared with that of

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

Biography

Frahm was born in

East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 26,370 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Centered around heavy industry, the city is home to the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwa ...

, in 1906. As a child, he was an avid drawer, and later took weekend classes at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

. He subsequently joined the Chicago firm Ziprodt, designing window displays for merchants, before resigning to become a full time illustrator. For the rest of his career, Frahm ran his own studio as a freelancer. Beginning in the 1920s, he illustrated advertisements for a wide variety of companies, including

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

, Schlitz,

Quaker Oats The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and launched a national ad ...

, and

Libby's Libby's (Libby, McNeill & Libby) was an American company that produced canned food and beverages. The firm was established in 1869 in Chicago, Illinois. The Libby's trademark is currently owned by Libby's Brand Holding based in Geneva, Switzerlan ...

. Frahm continued to paint during his service in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Frahm's commercial peak was in the 1950s. Each installment of his " ladies in distress" pin-up series featured a woman whose underwear had fallen to her ankles in an everyday situation—such as carrying groceries,

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

, or changing a tire—much to the delight of male onlookers. Frahm's publisher, Joseph C. Hoover and Sons, sold millions of calendars with the campy artwork, making it one of the most successful pinup series of the twentieth century. In the 1960s, Frahm created two popular calendar series: one following a band of fun-loving hobos traveling from

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and another depicting policemen teaching safety measures to children. Later in his career, while continuing to do commercial work, Frahm's tastes shifted to portraits and landscapes. Frahm moved his family to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in 1954 before setting in

Fountain Inn, South Carolina Fountain Inn is a city in Greenville and Laurens counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 10,416 at the 2020 census, up from 7,799 in 2010. It is part of the Greenville-Mauldin-Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, where he died on February 12, 1981, aged 74. He was survived by his wife Ruth and daughter Diana.

References

External links

Art Frahm at "The Pin-Up Files"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frahm, Art 1906 births 1981 deaths American erotic artists 20th-century American illustrators Pin-up artists School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Artists from Indiana

Biography

See also

References

External links