From time to time on this blog I’ve remarked how Bolles’
girls were unique; a creation arising out of his imagination, rather than a realistic
depiction of an actual model. In fact,
many of his covers were based on cartoon sketches he would dash off several at
a time, rather than a one-on-one session with a model. By contrast, the work of many other pinup
artists exhibits a mirror like fidelity between the completed product work and
the model. The best known case would be
Gil Elvgren. When you compare the photographs
of his models with the finished work you can’t miss the remarkable match
between the model and final painting. The late Francis Smith, Playboy cartoonist and author of the book, Stolen Sweets once told me that if an Elvgren model had her garter on crooked, then that's how he painted it.
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Over the years I’ve found at least three Bolles
covers which were directly worked from photos of Mary, though it took me a
while to identify her. With looks like Mary's it was no surprise to learn she was
a huge favorite of the reigning Hollywood photographers of the era, including
Clarence Bull and George Hurrell, who dated her for a time. But what I had no
idea of until just recently was that Mary is still with us, and going strong at
the age of 101! Take a look at this recent video
of her being feted with some classic piano tunes and you’ll see she is as glamorous and lively as ever. With the gracious
assistance of her agent Darin, I was able to send Mary some side by side examples showing how
Enoch’s art was directly inspired by her.
You can imagine how thrilled I was to receive one of them back,
personally autographed by Mary! And what
a coincidence that the contemporary pinup model, Mala Mostroberte used a Bollescover that itself was inspired by Mary for one of her own fabulous
interpretations of the Bolles girl.
If you'd like to see more of Mary, be sure to check out her Facebook page.
If you'd like to see more of Mary, be sure to check out her Facebook page.