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The
father of the American pin-up, Armstrong (1889-1960) came to
fame in the 1920s. His use of the pastel medium spawned such
famous followers as Billy De Vorss, Earl Moran and Zoe Mozert.
So Rolf Armstrong is not really a 1940's or 1950's Pinup artist.
Most of his paintings are painted before world war II, still
his work has often been cited as the inspiration for artists
such as Elvgren, Vargas and others. Though he worked a lot with
covers for song sheets, it was Armstrong's dazzlingly smiling,
supple-limbed calendar girls for Brown & Bigelow that set the
glamour-art standard.
Rolf Armstrong was born in Bay City, Michigan in but it was
not until the family moved to Detroit in 1899 that Rolf started
to show an interest in art. His early sketches are of sailors,
boxers, cowboys and other macho types. Armstrong left Detroit
for Chicago and the renowned Chicago Art Institute.
After Chicago Armstrong arrived in New York, where he started
producing images for magazine covers, the first being for 'Judge'
in 1912. Armstrong worked with models in his Manhattan studio,
creating enormous originals.
He started producing calendar girls in 1919, the first being
called 'Dream Girl', this name soon became synonymous with his
work, along with the label 'The Armstrong Girl'. Surviving examples
of his work are today among the most valuable pin-ups.
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