Illustrator: George Petty

George Petty

He was born in 1894 in Abbeville, Louisiana, and after having his high school graduation he studied art in Paris at the Acadèmie Julian.

When he returned to Chicago in 1916 he worked as a photo retoucher for a local printing company but early he began his career as a freelance artist painting pin-up girls for different companies. His wife and his daughter Marjorie were the mainest models for painting his illustrations.

In 1933 he began working for Esquire magazine and his Petty girls became very famous in almost everywhere. In 1941 he left his job but he continued working on another interesting projects. Early True magazine and the Ridge Tool Company noticed at him and hired his services.

Petty girls were beautiful smiling girls of gorgeous body that sometimes held a phone in their hands. Their heads were smaller in comparison with the rest of the body because he wanted to stylize their figures in order to improve them.

He died in 1975 at the age of 81 leaving an important artistic legacy.