1965 Williams

Moulin Rouge was Stenholm's tenth pinball art design, and his eighth for Williams. It's unclear who came up with the concept of an artist painting a picture that gets revealed as you play the game, but it seems that the artist would need to be involved early on in the design process. The mirrored panel in the center gradually disappears as the player lights up sections.

Even though he is working for a competing company, Stenholm seems to be borrowing from Roy Parker's tendency to use humor and a cartoonish style. However, with lots of little details and a skillful composition, we see Stenholm developing his chops for designing pinball art.

1967 Gottlieb

Art Stenholm often created art actively encouraging women to play pinball. He generally toned down the cheesecake aspect in pinball art, portraying women as real people. In Hi-Score he made it cool for women to play pinball, putting them front and center in an arcade where they are playing a machine that repeats the motif of them playing on the backglass. The same pattern is repeated on the glass of the game next to them.

We could be seeing recurring characters, with the woman at the snack counter also appearing as the target shooter from Funland and a player on Super Score, the 2 player version of Hi-Score. She seems to be the self assured female role-model for Stenholm's world giving the men a run for their money in a game of skill, like pinball.

1968 Gottlieb

In some ways, Four Seasons is a departure from some of our other selected games. Here we see little of the growing culture shift of the 1960's, and a theme more in line with earlier pinball art. It's possible that some influence of Roy Parker and earlier attitudes were still at play in the design and theme, which feels old-fashioned by today's standards in its character portrayal.

The bold, geometric graphic organizes the scene into neatly divided seasons. Popular pastimes of the day are front and center, even a Smoky Bear character makes an appearance. Our female lead seems unaware of the destruction she leaves in her wake, with men spellbound and bewildered at every turn. Just short of catcalls and wolf whistles, the artwork would have us see our heroine through the eyes of interested men. While Second-wave Feminism was in full bloom by 1968, our scenes here seem to reflect attitudes of an earlier era.

1968 Gottlieb

Stenholm frequently used a “game within a game” approach in his pinball art. The premise here being a board game where you spin the wheel, matching the objective of the pinball game. Also, there’s a likely reference to "spin the bottle", a game played by young adults where kissing is involved. Much of Stenholm’s art spoke directly to the interests and activities of young adults.

The art is a snapshot of the American living room circa 1968. Stenholm created richly detailed scenes, putting in the seemingly insignificant objects like the glass ashtray, the TV Guide and the energetic Chihuahua. Even the fluffy carpet is a sign of the times. The hairstyles and the Mondrian dress complete the effect and one is pulled into the party and playing spin wheel just like the backglass.

1968 Gottlieb

Straddling two worlds at once, we see Stenholm nodding to the cultural changes happening in America in the late 1960's. The traditional carnival atmosphere is infiltrated with trendy UK-inspired fashions, bold colors, and shaggy haircuts. Like some of Stenholm's other work, this is an observational scene that would have resonated with a young person's social experiences at that time.

At our center, a young woman in a minidress and high boots takes aim at a shooting gallery game. A world-weary woman at the counter sullenly grasps a lemon soda while a couple on a motorbike pass by. A pair of beatniks approach, guitar in hand in the background. In the playfield plastics, notice 2 people dancing in what looks to be a Hullabaloo style, frenetic and loose.

Again, the adult men are very stylized almost like marionettes in their features, perhaps setting apart one generation from the next. Also notice that, like Hi Score and Spin Wheel, Funland is both a game within the world depicted and one in our own. The playfield carries through the motif with duck targets that align the pinball player's objectives with the game's characters.

1969 Gottlieb

With a Boeing 727 visible through the window of the mostly empty terminal, the blue tile floor suggests the vast emptiness of an ocean. The background is all straight lines, a very geometric visual which along with the cold slabs of blues and violets makes the curves and bright colors of the airline crew contrast strongly. The flight attendants are the focal point of the backglass, and are further emphasized with backlights.

Unlike his predecessor Roy Parker, Stenholm shows the women sporting current fashions and hairdos, appearing not as fashion models but regular people. In most of Stenholm's work, women are presented as capable people confidently participating in the action.

The lone traveler with too many bags is one of the last things the eye is drawn to although he is centered in the painting. Finally, in a very Stenholmian motif, we find a weary traveling musician asleep on the bench.

1970 Gottlieb

One of the most visually engaging subjects of pinball art is life under the sea. Art Stenholm captured the vast expanse and wonder of the deep blue ocean and incorporated mythology, humor, greed, sex and envy to take it a step further. This is a work that is very atmospheric, every time I play Scuba I am transported to a comfortable place of warm water and mysterious marvels.

The way Stenholm handled color in several of our selections shows a skillful understanding of successful pinball art. For it to be effective, a backglass has to stand out and capture a customer’s attention right away, often in a busy arcade environment. In these examples, Stenholm highlighted his foreground characters by using large expanses of color in the backgrounds. In effect, this immerses a viewer into his scene and hopefully convinces them to play the game.

1970 Gottlieb

Though released in 1970, Crescendo effectively conjures the psychedelia of the 1960's. Building on some of his earlier inclusions, Stenholm saturates the scene with the beatnik and hippie characters.

Set in a club, hallmarks of the times are on display. Immersive colorful visuals, organic lettering styles, and youth fashions dominate. Based on the female-fronted band and visuals, the title Crescendo may be an allusion to Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit and its famous build-up. Historically speaking, we might also apply the title as a description of the hippie movement's rise and eventual fall.

The playfield is dominated by a flower power motif and energetic clubgoers from the backglass art. In terms of game features, Crescendo is important as the first Gottlieb game to include drop targets. The game was also released in a 4-player version titled Groovy.

1970 Gottlieb

Stenholm used his art to capture the little things that made up a certain period. On the backglass and the plastics are little things that create the whole story of this 1960’s dorm room; phone, flower trash can, gooseneck lamp, stuffed animal, and the typewriter.

One thing that intrigued me about Stenholm’s work was that he did not depend on cheesecake clothes, poses, or exaggerated features to portray the women in his art. The clothes were plain, comfortable but not high fashion, little or no makeup, and doing things that most other college students would be doing. In this case, playing a game of solitaire while her friend plays an acoustic guitar.

1970 Gottlieb

Again we see Gottlieb and Stenholm tapping into popular consciousness of the 1960's. Mini bikes and beach party movies were a huge part of pop culture, especially with pinball's biggest audience, young people.

The backglass scene appears less populated than some of his other games, focusing on a small group of partiers and minibikers. However, this is probably owed more to the expansive scenery, which is a departure from the closed-in imagery of games like Spin Wheel and Hi Score. While the beat and hippie fashions are present, the look is a little more subdued than in some of Stenholm's other scenes. Notice the acoustic guitar, a familiar recurring icon in our selected games.

Mini Cycle's playfield is bold and graphic, but also spacious. The yellow background carries through from the backglass evoking an expanse of beach sand for players to frolic on.