Vintage Illustration: Discovering America's Calendar Artists.

• Author: Barrett, Wayne M.

Although autumn is still on the horizon, the onslaught of 1998 calendars already has begun. For a real appreciation of calendar years past, though, Vintage Illustration -- both an informative history and exhaustive price guide -- is a must for fans of calendar art, especially those who enjoy pin-up girls (knockout paintings of Depression-era and wartime beauties, not the trashy photos on today's calendars).

This heavily illustrated volume -- plenty of color and black and white -- documents calendar art's birth in the 1800s; takes readers through the 1920s and 1930s, when businesses began distributing millions of calendars each holiday season; explains how talented artists signed exclusive contracts with print companies; details to the last minutia the calendar-making process from the days of lithographic offset printing; warns collectors how to spot phony aged reproductions; highlights some of the more prominent artists and their particular genre of expertise (pin-ups, landscapes, hunting and fishing, children and their pets, etc.); and wraps up with a price guide to aid those who enjoy collectible shows and auctions.

"The Artists" chapter is the most intriguing, especially the tales of its leadoff painter, Rolf Armstrong, the undisputed "father" of glamour girl and pin-up art, as well as another pin-up favorite, John Bradshaw Crandell. "Armstrong made strong use of lighting and many of his beauties are bathed in a characteristic golden glow of some offstage light or sunset. His use of pastels to create almost photographically smooth skin on his subjects' faces is absolutely stunning. Whether depicting Salomes in gossamer robes or farm girls in dungarees, Armstrong women are timeless...."

(For those really into the pin-up scene, Collector's Press has produced a companion series to Vintage Illustration, called Vignettes, consisting of four editions: Rolf Armstrong, The Dream Girls; Gil Elvgren, The Wartime...