Billy DeVors - a diligent amateur who became a pin-up classic
We are accustomed to the fact that famous artists are professionals, or at least people who have devoted their entire lives to art. But this doesn't always happen. American Billy DeVorss became a pin-up classic by simply killing time. As a child and teenager, Billy preferred playing baseball and fishing to drawing. His talent was discovered later, when Billy was bored in a stuffy office, among contracts and invoices. And fame came in adulthood.
Billy DeVors began drawing out of boredom at the age of 25. He worked as a small clerk at a bank in Missouri and, thanks to the Great Depression, he had time for creativity. In 1933, his work first attracted public interest. The Dow company purchased three pin-up drawings for its calendars.
Then there were many small orders for provincial editorial offices and advertising agencies. The first serious work in the publication “Brown and Bigellow” allowed DeVors to leave the banking office and move to New York with his wife. Billy was 27 years old - a great age to start a new life.
And he didn't miss his chance. At his own risk, De Vors opened a studio in the Big Apple, investing all his savings in it. Everything worked out for Billy - serious orders were not long in coming. Until 1949, he worked for publishers producing calendars and comics, and in 1949 he entered into a large contract with Botany Woollen's. This was his ticket to fame - from that moment on, De Vors was inundated with orders.
Billy DeVors had one interesting feature. He never created his works based on imagination. Each of his girls is a real model who posed in the artist’s studio. The master received orders not only from magazines. He created many posters for Broadway musicals and theatrical performances.
The artist lived a long and eventful life and died in 1985 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Today, DeVors is considered one of the founders of the pin-up genre, along with such luminaries as Alberto Vargas and Paul Rader.