Peter Driben was perhaps one of the most productive pin-up artists of
the 1940's and 50's. Although both Vargas & Elvgren have extensive
cataloges of work, neither come close to the output of Driben.
Driben was born in Boston, (date unknown), and studied at Vaesper
George Art School before moving to study at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1925.
His first known Pin-Up was the cover to Tattle Tales in October 1934, and
by 1935 he was producing covers for Snappy, Pep, New York Nights, French
Night Life and Caprice. His career went from strength to strength in the
late thirties with covers for Silk Stocking Stories, Gay Book, Movie
Merry-Go-Round and Real Screen Fun.
His career was not limited to magazine covers, he also worked in
advertising and for Hollywood, perhaps his most famous work being the
original posters & publicity artwork for 'The Maltese Falcon'. Peter
Driben was also a close friend of publisher Robert Harrison, and in 1941
was contracted to produce covers for Harrison's new magazine 'Beauty Parade'.
Driben went on to paint covers for all of Harrisons magazines, often having
as many as six or seven of his covers being published every month.
Driben's Pin-Up Girls are distinctive due to the bold colours he used,
(usually red, yellow, blue and green), and the fact that most of the girl's
poses are designed to show as much leg as possible. In his later years Peter
Driben turned, like many of his colleagues, to portrait and fine-art work,
including a portrait of Dwight Eisenhower. His wife, Louise Driben, organised
these works into several successful exhibitions. Peter Driben died in 1975,
his wife in 1984.