Earl Steffa Moran was born in Belle Plaine, Iowa, in December 1893. Like many of his contempories Moran studied at the Chicago Art Institute, while at the same time working for a large engraving house which specialised in men's fashion illustrations. Moran studied in Chicago for two years before moving on to Manhattan where he enrolled at the Art Students League.

In 1931 he moved back to Chicago and opened a small studio, specialising in photography and illustration. In 1932 he signed an exclusive contract with Brown and Bigelow and produced his first, and perhaps best known, pin-up for the company: "Golden Hours" in 1933. This pin-up proved so popular that it was used to market a variety of products, including a huge 5 pound box of chocolates.

Earl Moran became one of America's best known pin-up artists after Life magazine ran an article on him in 1940, he was also well known as a cover artist , along with Peter Driben etc., for Robert Harrison, and indeed painted the cover for Harrisons first issue of Beauty Parade. The early forties where also a time of some hardship for Moran following his bitter divorce from his wife Mura. After the divorce had been settled he moved to Hollywood and comenced painting film stars along with his calendar work for Brown and Bigelow. One of his most famous models whilst in Hollywood was the young Marilyn Monroe, who modeled for Moran between 1946 and 1950. Earl Moran continued to paint for Brown and Bigelow well into the late fifties before deciding to retire to paint fine art subjects. He signed with Aaron Brothers Galleries and continued to paint for collectors until 1982 when his eyesight started to fail. Earl Moran died on the 17th January 1984, in Santa Monica.

Although Earl Moran utilised a variety of mediums, e.g. oil on canvas in the 40's and oil on canvasboard in the 50's, he most commonly worked in pastels. His work can often be recognised by his heavy use of light and shadow.

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