French Art Deco painter Jean-Gabriel Domergue (1889 – 1962) is the self-proclaimed inventor of the pin-up. Beginning his career as a landscape painter under the tutelage of renowned artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, he discovered his calling in flirtatiously posed nude and semi-nude female portraiture. Brigitte Bardot and Gina Lollobrigida were among the famous beauties who posed for him in his home studio. He also designed travel ads featuring the world’s most luxuriously indulgent places rendered in vintage style.

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