Archie Dickens (1907 - 2004)

Archie Dickens attended the Slade School of Art in London and became a free-lance commercial artist in the 1930s. Pin-up was just coming into vogue. Archie yearned to paint girlie art but needed to help support his family.

Archie Dickens.

He emigrated to New Zealand in 1937 and joined an advertising agency in Auckland. There he painted his first pin-up. In 1939, war broke out and feeling that it was to his advantage, Archie sailed to Australia where he was hired by a very up-to-date studio in Sydney. His pin-ups were soon in great demand. After some time, he was compelled to join the Australian Army, so his art work was put aside for awhile.

At the end of the war he married an Australian girl and moved back to London where he produced saucy pictures - "that were never too rude" - full time.

An Englishman from the old school, Archie Dickens' fondness for lovely young innocents in not-so-innocent situations has delighted pin-up enthusiasts throughout the world for several generations. Angelic faces with devilish designs was the hallmark of this illustrator.