Saturday, January 27, 2007

More Women in Bed



Thanks to Leif Peng's wonderful blog, I've discovered the American illustrator Coby Whitmore (1913-1988)-- who among other things, seems to have specialized in bedroom tableaux.

This young lady is being provocative -- but she seems so comfortable in that comfy bed --- she clearly must be beckoning a husband rather than a lover (or customer).

And is that a bible on the floor that she's just been reading ?








Yes --as she's waking up the next morning- it does appear to be a bible.

Good girls in bed !

I think this is a uniquely American theme. (especially if the bed looks like it's on display in a mail-order catalog)





And sometimes we have our little tiffs, don't we ?

Whitmore is, I think, just a few steps behind Utamaro -- but then, what graphic designer isn't ?

I just wish that American popular illustration -- like American popular music -- could have been accompanied by a high-art version ( like having both a Doris Day -- AND a Billie Holiday )

But I guess it was not to be.

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Note that the big stripey male tie dominates that tiff-image!

January 27, 2007  
Blogger chris miller said...

I like the bold design -- but, just like with Japanese prints, I have no idea what this story is all about.

Isn't a tie on the doorknob a "Do not disturb" signal to hotel staff ?

And what is that meek-looking fellow reading ? Has the missus run up a credit card bill ? It's all a mystery to me -- but like any voyeur -- that makes it all the more intriguing.

January 27, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hate it when I'm too subtle:

"'The tie is the most obvious kind of a phallic symbol,' says George D. Goldman, Ph.D., a psychologist and psychoanalyst who practices in New York City."

http://psychologytoday.com

Word verification is: accuscy. Hidden meanings everywhere.

January 27, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hah! But note how much of the picture plane the woman dominates...more inches than the phallic tie (which, if that door swings shut, will be in danger of wound).

January 28, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

True, and yet it is such a powerfully striped red and navy instrument--so generous in its proportions, so very tigerish (or perhaps a bouncing Tiggerish) in its markings!

January 28, 2007  
Blogger chris miller said...

note to self: be oh-so more careful about the images posted on this blog !

January 28, 2007  
Blogger Robert said...

Serves you right Chris!!

January 29, 2007  

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