Watch This Space Detail by Earl Moran

Dr. Seuss

Original Artwork

Earl Moran, born in Iowa in 1893, has labeled by some as the founder of the pinup craze. He opened up a studio in Chicago in 1931 and began sending his illustrations around to calendar companies. This, according to him in a brief edited bio, “was the beginning of about a quarter of a century of exclusive calendar girls and as far as I’m concerned there’s been no more enjoyable work in my life” He is even known for discovering Marilyn Monroe, then Norma Jean Dougherty, in 1946 when she was a struggling artist. “I recall a time when [Marilyn] came to pose for me and her shoes were absolutely run down beyond repair. I gave her a pair a previous model had left in the studio and Marilyn wore them home.” Moran continued to live in California for the rest of his life, painting for collectors, spending time with celebrities and models, including Jayne Mansfield, and taking part in the lavish social life in Hollywood at the time.