Artists and art lovers are currently gathered in Santa Monica for Frieze Los Angeles, the international contemporary art fair that’s celebrating its seventh year running. From February 26 to March 1, attendees will browse the nearly 100 exhibiting galleries at the festival, featuring work from artists like Ramsés Noriega, Sarah Sze, Paige Powell, and so many more.
In honor of this week of art and culture, Playboy took a look back through our archives, where many beloved artists have graced the pages with work exclusively for the magazine. Icons like Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselman, and Ellen Lanyon have created work for the magazine, lending their eye and their paintbrush to our archives. At one point, 11 contemporary artists reimagined the playmate for a feature in the January, 1967 issue called “The Playmate as Fine Art.”
Below, find some art from Playboy‘s past.
Salvador Dalí
Here, Dalí imagines the playmate for the January, 1967 feature “The Playmate As Fine Art.”
Dalí composed the above three works first in sketch form, then in real life for the December, 1974 issue. He teamed up with photographer Pompeo Posar, who captured the images. The motivation behind the images, according to Dalí? “That is of the purest—money.”
Andy Warhol
The Playboy bunny in Warhol’s iconic style. January, 1986.
Warhol’s contribution to the January, 1967 “The Playmate as Fine Art.”
Keith Haring
“Bunny on the Move,” commissioned by Playboy in 1986, but not published until May, 2017.
Haring created this work for the January, 1986 issue.
A Haring original to accompany the August, 1986 "The Gospel According to Tom Peters."
Tom Wesselman
In the January 1967 “The Playmate as Fine Art,” Wesselman went for the “somewhat glossy yet inviting” element of the playmate.
George Segal
Segal set out to capture the “serenity of a woman fulfilled” for the January, 1967 “The Playmate As Fine Art” feature.
Frank Gallo
In the January, 1967 “The Playmate as Fine Art” feature, Gallo called the female form “the only indestructible and inspiring resource of simple beauty” left to him.
Ellen Lanyon
“Seated on her silver crescent/Playmate shines so effervescent/Teeth, smile, breasts, belly/ Knees and coy-crossed calves/Transmitter of titillation/Receiver of adoration/She is the queen of vanity.” So wrote Lanyon for the January, 1967 “The Playmate as Fine Art” feature.
James Rosenquist
Rosenquist’s contribution to “The Playmate as Fine Art,” January 1967.
Ben Johnson
Johnson’s interpretation of the playmate, from the January, 1967 feature “The Playmate as Fine Art.”
