The Alluring Art of Margaret Brundage Queen of Pulp Pin-Up Art

I have a confession to make:  I did not know who Margaret Brundage was.  I'd heard of her name and her association with Pulp magazines but that was about the extent of my knowledge of her.

 

After looking through and reading The Alluring Art of Margaret Brundage Queen of Pulp Pin-Up Art, written and compiled by Stephen  D. Korshak and J. David Spurlock and published by Vanguard Productions, I've come to admire and respect her work.

She was a pioneer.  She was the first woman to paint the cover of such notable Pulp magazines as Oriental Stories, Magic Carpet and most notably Weird Tales (for which she did most of her covers).

Her lush, erotic, exotic and controversial cover art walked the fine line between fantasy and fetish.  Most of her work centered around beautiful women-most in peril and hinting at bondage.
Much like her work, Margaret's personal life was steeped in mystery and speculation.  Elusive and unconventional Margaret was as provocative as her smoldering, semi-nude depictions of women.

Adept at painting horror and fantasy her paintings were as much pin-ups as cover art.
Bohemian by nature she was part of an unconventional couple who together changed the face of Pulp magazine art.

Part art gallery and part biography, the book delves into Brundage's life from an early aspiring artist to her final days.  

Lush, full color, full page reproductions of the lion's share of her Pulp magazine covers and black and white and pencil illustrations are included as well as vintage photos of the artist and her contemporaries.

Brundage was the first painter of Conan and a pioneer in the Pulp magazine cover profession.