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Besides being one of the best pin-up artists, Zoe Mozert was also a
photographer. On top of employing models for photographic sessions, many
times she used herself as a model. Sometimes she superimposed her
sister's head over hers. Zoe was mainly known for working for Brown and
Bigelow, a company whose main concern was the manufacture os calendars.
One of the great pin-up queens herslf,
Marianne Phillips
(The Dame You Can
Trust!), knew Zoe personally.
"My first impression upon meeting Zoe Mozert was astonishment. This
tiny, graceful lady had such presence, she seemed to fill the whole
room! Within minutes, Zoe was flirting shamelessly with my husband,
Jerry, who immediately fell under her spell. The next day, as we
discussed compiling a book of her life's work, Zoe stressed, "Any story
you write about me, like my life, has to begin and end with love!"
Zoe Mozert was a love child, born April 27, 1907, in Colorado Springs,
Colorado, nine months and three weeks after her parents were married.
Mr. Moser did freelance work and they moved often, leaving Colorado
when Zoe was still an infant. She attended grammar school in Newark,
Ohio and soon became an avid reader. Enthralled by fairy tales, she
created worlds of magic and beauty in her imagination. Later Zoe would
bring that same magic and beauty to her paintings. Annette Kellerman was
her favorite actress, and even as a child, she noticed that Miss
Kellerman had great legs! (Annette Kellerman was a championship swimmer
turned stage and silent film actress. She was arrested in Boston in 1907
for wearing a then-shocking, limb-baring, one-piece bathing
suit on a public beach.)
In 1921 the family moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania where she started
high school. Then, at 16, Zoe, every bit the dark-haired gamin, was
shipped off to finishing school at Fairfax Hall in Virginia. A year
later she entered the Philadelphia School of Industrial Art under a
scholarship program. This was the same college where Maxfield Parrish
studied years earlier.
During her sophomore year, the high-spirited student became
mesmerized by her illustration teacher, Thornton Oakley, formerly a
pupil of N.C. Wyeth, was a red headed giant with big, bushy eyebrows.
"Have one thought only. Live in your picture. And love your subject
- as long as it's not your best friend's husband." Giggling, she
added, "It helps to have a sense of humor, too."
In her third year, due to family financial setbacks, the ever
resourceful teen posed for art classes at a neighboring college.
Because of this..."
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