Wilfrid R. Addey (1912-1999) worked as a commercial artist for over sixty years, working for Dorland Advertising and Mitchells among other London advertising firms. His work shows the range of products and illustration styles, from aeroplanes and cars, beer and perfume, to satirical cartoons and calendar pin-up girls and is representative of the post war boom in advertising during the late 1940s and 1950s.

This watercolour shows a pin-up girl kneeling on the floor wearing a purple bikini. She is shown with her back to the audience, smoking a cigarette which she holds in her left hand. She turns to look out over her left shoulder. Bikinis first appeared in Europe in 1947 and reportedly created a shock in France when women began wearing them on the beaches. The pin-up is shown talking on a telephone while in her left hand she holds what is presumably a love letter, signed with six kisses. The figure type, with her thin high eyebrows, long eyelashes, defined lips, long face and long willowy body is typical of the 1940s.