Joyce Ballantyne (April 4, 1918 – May 15, 2006) was a painter of

pin-up art A pin-up model is a model (person), model whose mass-produced pictures and photographs have wide appeal within the popular culture of a society. Pin-up models are usually glamour photography, glamour, actresses, or fashion models whose pictures ...

. She is best known as the designer of the

Coppertone girl Coppertone is the brand name for an American sunscreen. Coppertone uses a variety of branding, including the Coppertone girl logo and a distinctive fragrance. Product line The original product dates to 1944, when pharmacist Benjamin Green inv ...

, whose swimming costume is being pulled down by a dog.

Early life and career

She was born in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and grew up in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. She attended the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

for two years and then transferred to the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...

to study commercial art and the

American Academy of Art The American Academy of Art College was a private for-profit art school in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1923 for the education of fine and commercial arts students. In July 2024, the college announced its pending closure. History The ...

. After two years at the Art Institute, Ballantyne joined Kling Studios, where she painted

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation, and education markets. The company is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois with a di ...

maps and illustrated books for Cameo Press. She then moved to the Stevens-Gross Studio, where she remained for more than a decade. While at the studio, she became part of a group of artists that included

Gil Elvgren Gillette Alexander Elvgren (March 15, 1914 – February 29, 1980) was an American painter of pin-up models, advertising and illustration. Best known for his pin-up paintings for Brown & Bigelow, Elvgren studied at the American Academ ...

, Al Moore, and Al Buell.

Pinup girls

In 1945 Ballantyne began painting pin-ups for

Brown & Bigelow Brown & Bigelow is a company based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that sells branded apparel and promotional merchandise. History The company was founded in 1896 by Herbert Huse Bigelow and Hiram Brown. On June 24, 1924, Bigelow was convicted fo ...

, having been recommended by Gil Elvgren. While there, she designed direct mail pin-up brochures for the company, and was eventually given the honor of creating an Artist's Sketch Pad twelve page calendar. She often used herself as a model. In 1954, Ballantyne painted twelve pin-ups for a calendar published by Shaw-Barton. Upon the calendar's release in 1955, demand was so great that the company reprinted it many times. Ballantyne then went on to paint one of the most famous advertising images ever, when

Coppertone Coppertone is the brand name for an American sunscreen. Coppertone uses a variety of branding, including the Coppertone girl logo and a distinctive fragrance. Product line The original product dates to 1944, when pharmacist Benjamin Green inv ...

suntan lotion asked her to create a billboard image in 1959. That image, of a pigtailed girl with her bathing suit being tugged down by a small dog, has become an American icon. Her 3-year-old daughter Cheri Brand was used as the model for the girl.

Portraits

Joyce Ballantyne eventually moved into the realm of portraits and fine art, painting the portraits of scores of entertainment and sports personalities as well as luminaries from the business, social, and academic worlds. Subjects included comedian

Jonathan Winters Jonathan Harshman Winters III (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor, author, television host, and artist. He started performing as a stand up comedian before transitioning his career to acting in film and te ...

, Robert Smalley of

Hertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in ter ...

, and Major General John Leonard Hines. She often resented the fact that the Coppertone girl was her most famous work, saying "Big deal, it's only baby art. I didn't feel there was anything special about that ad. Just a piece I was commissioned to do and nothing more." In 1974, Ballantyne moved with her husband to

Ocala Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Florida, United States. Located in North Central Florida, the city's population was 63,591 as of the 2020 census, up from 56,315 at the 2010 census and making it the 43rd-most popul ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

where she lived until her death from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in 2006.

References

* ''The Great American Pin-Up'', by Charles G. Martignette and Louis K. Meisel,

External links

Joyce Ballantyne artwork can be viewed at American Art Archives web site
*A photograph o

of the iconic Coppertone advertisement she created {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballantyne, Joyce 1918 births 2006 deaths People from Norfolk, Nebraska American women illustrators 20th-century American illustrators Pin-up artists Painters from Nebraska School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni American portrait painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters University of Nebraska alumni

Early life and career

Pinup girls

Portraits

See also

References

External links