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When Withers began painting pin-ups for Brown and
Bigelow in 1950, he had already spent twenty-five years working in the Hollywood film industry. He was ready for a change, and
so was the calendar company, which assigned him the honour of painting the Artist's Sketch Pad calendar for the 1954 market.
Withers' first twelve dreamy pin-ups would be followed by many more in years to come, until the calendar passed on to Fritz Willis in 1961.
Edward Withers was born in Wellington, New Zealand. After studying at Wellington College, he enrolled at the Royal Academy in London and later at the South Kensington School of Art and the Slade School of Art. Eager for more training, Withers moved to Paris and the prestigious
Académie Julian, During World War One, he saw service in Samoa, Egypt, France, and Germany and received three decorations.
In 1924, Withers came to America with his wife and two children.
In his Hollywood years, he did a number of celebrity portraits while employed in a series of jobs, including art director at MGM Studios, supervisor in the trick and miniature department at Universal Studios, art director for Earnshaw-Young Advertising Agency, and art director for the Sterling Press Lithograph Company. He also painted fine-art works for his own enjoyment, and his award-winning landscapes were widely exhibited.
In November 1950, at his first Brown and Bigelow cocktail party, Withers was talking with Norman Rockwell when Rolf Armstrong and Gil
Elvgren arrived. These two pin-up greats were introduced to Withers, who was bowled over when Armstrong praised him as "one of
America's greatest, most versatile painters" and Elvgren, who had a keen interest in photography, added "one of the best photographers in the country".
Withers had an analytical mind, a great personality, and a superb sense of
humour - not to mention the technical skills of a Da Vinci. In a letter to Brown and Bigelow, he once described the view from his
Hollywood apartment in this way:
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