David Wright was born on the 12th December 1912 into an artistic family. His uncle, Gilbert Wright, worked for illustrated weekly paper, The Graphic and David Wright started his own career at Gilbert's studio after leaving school at the age of 13. He specialised in fashion illustration and during the 1930s produced designs and covers for women's magazines such as Home Chat and Modern Weekly but his big break came in 1941 when he was commissioned by The Sketch magazine to produce a series of pin-ups. They were designed as a single page, to be fixed loosely into the magazine for easy removal by readers who could, quite literally, 'pin up' a picture in bars, pubs, barrack rooms and officers' messes.

The Sketch had an established track record where pin-ups were concerned having exclusively published the hugely successful Raphael Kirchner in the UK during the First World War. With the outbreak of war once more in 1939, it began to commission illustrated pin-ups from a variety of different artists, among them Wilton Williams and Iowa-born artist Merlin Enabnit. Enabnit's departure for his native America in August 1940 meant the magazine was without its regular pin-up art and the New Year seemed a perfect time to introduce a new style. On 1st January 1941, 'The Siren' by David Wright appeared in The Sketch. It was the first of what would amount to 169 separate illustrations Wright completed for the magazine between 1941 and 1953, known as David Wright's 'Lovelies'. Wright's pin-ups were a masterclass in understated eroticism. Largely inspired by his wife Esmé (née Little), whom he had met as a model, the 'Lovelies' echo her faultlessly slim figure and striking features, exude feminine allure and a certain, tantalising aloofness. Whether clad in diaphanous lingerie, stretching out their stocking-clad legs, or more modestly, in chic, 1940s jackets or uniform, the 'Lovelies' sizzled with sex appeal and elegant seduction. Many of the pictures had titles - 'Streamline Fuselage' or 'Spitfire' - that reflected the preoccupations of war, but were laced with a sly double-entendre. Wright had hit on a winning and very individual, pin-up formula.

In 1944, David Wright's agent won him a commission for a number of front cover illustrations for The American Weekly magazine, at first under the series title of 'Highlights to Charm'. The American Weekly, owned by William Randolph Hearst had an astonishing circulation of 50 million, due to the fact it was produced as a supplement to almost every local newspaper across the United States. It is difficult to think of a more effective form of exposure for a pin-up artist, establishing Wright in the firmament of the genre's great names. Interestingly, his cover illustrations for American Weekly are far more modest with a girl-next-door flavour, designed for an audience that was a tad more conservative than the British at war. In later life, Wright would draw the strip cartoon, 'Carol Day' featured in the Daily Mail.

We are proud to have worked as exclusive licensor for the David Wright Estate for a number of years, not only to represent his work for The Sketch and The American Weekly (for whom he produced over 100 illustrations between 1944 and 1951) but also a number of centrefolds for Men Only magazine, as well as calendar, magazine & book cover images and advertising work. Click here to see a selection.

Further reading on David Wright:
A Very British Pin-Up by Lucinda Gosling, in Illustration magazine, Summer issue, 2012
'Sirens' by Terry Parker, published by Titan Books, 2013