There were a number of mid-century artists who specialised in producing kitsch portraits of beautiful, young women. Louis Shabner was one of the more well known, alongside Vladimir Tretchikoff and J H Lynch.

His subjects look like glamorous Bond girls and have names like Ursula, Nicola, Melanie, Gail, Ingrid and Sara. At the time, his works were widely retailed by Boots the Chemists and through Freemans catalogues. Today, you can readily come across these original vintage prints of his for sale on eBay and Etsy.

Born in Enfield, Middlesex, Louis Shabner began his artistic career designing shop window advertising for brands such as EveryReady, Ovaltine and Chivers.

During the 1950s & 60s, and working under the pseudonym of ‘Sheldon’, Shabner was the creator of pulp fiction book cover artworks – primarily for Pan.

Stuart Webb recently authored a book on Shabner – unfortunately, the hardback edition is already sold out and is out of print. However, the paperback version is now available.

Image credit:
American Gallery