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[[File:Alberto Vargas record.jpeg|thumb|right| The current auction record for a Vargas work is $179,250 for this 1963 Playboy illustration, realized by Heritage Auctions in February, 2010.<ref>[http://comics.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=7017&Lot_No=93087 Current Auction Record, Heritage Auctions]</ref>]]


'''Alberto Vargas''' (9 February 1896 – 30 December 1982) was a noted [[Peru]]vian [[Painting|painter]] of [[pin-up]] girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists. Numerous of the original Vargas paintings have sold for tens of thousands of dollars.
'''Alberto Vargas''' (9 February 1896 – 30 December 1982) was a noted [[Peru]]vian [[Painting|painter]] of [[pin-up]] girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists. Numerous of the original Vargas paintings have sold for tens of thousands of dollars.
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Many of Vargas' works from his period with ''Esquire'' are now held by the [[Spencer Museum of Art]] at the University of Kansas, which was given those works in 1980 along with a large body of other art from the magazine.<ref>[http://www.spencerart.ku.edu/collection/print/vargas/goddard.shtml ''Alberto Vargas and the Esquire Pinup'' Stephen Goddard, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas]</ref>
Many of Vargas' works from his period with ''Esquire'' are now held by the [[Spencer Museum of Art]] at the University of Kansas, which was given those works in 1980 along with a large body of other art from the magazine.<ref>[http://www.spencerart.ku.edu/collection/print/vargas/goddard.shtml ''Alberto Vargas and the Esquire Pinup'' Stephen Goddard, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas]</ref>


At the December 2003 [[Christies]] auction of ''[[Playboy]]'' archives, the 1967 Vargas painting "Trick or Treat" sold for $71,600.<ref>[http://money.cnn.com/2003/12/17/pf/saving/playboy/ Valdes-Dapena, Peter, "Playboy art: sex sells" ''CNN/Money'' (18 December 2003]</ref> The current record for a Vargas work is $179,250, realized by Heritage Auction Galleries in a February, 2010 auction.
At the December 2003 [[Christies]] auction of ''[[Playboy]]'' archives, the 1967 Vargas painting "Trick or Treat" sold for $71,600.<ref>[http://money.cnn.com/2003/12/17/pf/saving/playboy/ Valdes-Dapena, Peter, "Playboy art: sex sells" ''CNN/Money'' (18 December 2003]</ref>

The current auction record for a Vargas work is $179,250 for a 1963 Playboy illustration, realized by Heritage Auctions in February, 2010.<ref>[http://comics.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=7017&Lot_No=93087 Current Auction Record, Heritage Auctions]</ref>


His work was typically a combination of [[watercolor]] and [[airbrush]]. His mastery of the airbrush is acknowledged by the fact that the highest achievement in the community of airbrush artistry is the Vargas Award, awarded annually by ''Airbrush Action Magazine''. Despite always using figure models, his images would often portray elegantly dressed, semi-[[nude]] to nude women of idealized proportions. Vargas' artistic trait would be slender fingers and toes, with nails often painted red.
His work was typically a combination of [[watercolor]] and [[airbrush]]. His mastery of the airbrush is acknowledged by the fact that the highest achievement in the community of airbrush artistry is the Vargas Award, awarded annually by ''Airbrush Action Magazine''. Despite always using figure models, his images would often portray elegantly dressed, semi-[[nude]] to nude women of idealized proportions. Vargas' artistic trait would be slender fingers and toes, with nails often painted red.
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* [http://www.bpib.com/illustra2/vargas.htm Alberto Vargas Biography]
* [http://www.bpib.com/illustra2/vargas.htm Alberto Vargas Biography]
* [http://www.americanartarchives.com/vargas.htm Artwork on the American Art Archives web site]
* [http://www.americanartarchives.com/vargas.htm Artwork on the American Art Archives web site]
*[http://comics.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=7017&Lot_No=93087 Current Auction Record, Heritage Auctions]<




Revision as of 06:17, 11 April 2011

Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas in New York, ca. 1919.
Born
Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez
NationalityPeruvian
Known forPainter
File:Alberto Vargas record.jpeg
The current auction record for a Vargas work is $179,250 for this 1963 Playboy illustration, realized by Heritage Auctions in February, 2010.[1]

Alberto Vargas (9 February 1896 – 30 December 1982) was a noted Peruvian painter of pin-up girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists. Numerous of the original Vargas paintings have sold for tens of thousands of dollars.

Biography

Born in Arequipa, Peru, Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez moved to the United States in 1916 after studying art in Europe prior to World War I. He was the son of famous Peruvian photographer Max T. Vargas.[1] His early career included work as an artist for the Ziegfeld Follies and for many Hollywood studios. Vargas' most famous piece of film work was that for the 1933 film The Sin of Nora Moran, which shows a near-naked Zita Johann in a pose of desperation. The poster is frequently named one of the greatest movie posters ever made.[2] He became famous in the 1940s as the creator of iconic World War II era pin-ups for Esquire magazine known as "Vargas Girls." The nose art of many World War II aircraft was adapted from these Esquire pin-ups.

In 2004, Hugh Hefner (founder and Editor-in-Chief of Playboy) wrote "The US Post Office attempted to put Esquire out of business in the 1940's by taking away its second-class mailing permit. The Feds objected, most especially, to the cartoons and the pin-up art of Alberto Vargas. Esquire prevailed in the case that went to the Supreme Court, but the magazine dropped the cartoons just to be on the safe side".[3] A legal dispute with Esquire over the use of the name "Varga" resulted in a judgement against Vargas and he struggled financially until the 1960s when Playboy magazine began to use his work as "Vargas Girls." His career flourished and he had major exhibitions of his work all over the world. The death of his wife Anna Mae in 1974 left him devastated and he stopped painting. The publication of his autobiography in 1978 renewed interest in his work and brought him partially out of his self-imposed retirement to do a few works, such as album covers for Bernadette Peters and The Cars. He died of a stroke on 30 December 1982, at the age of 86.

Many of Vargas' works from his period with Esquire are now held by the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas, which was given those works in 1980 along with a large body of other art from the magazine.[4]

At the December 2003 Christies auction of Playboy archives, the 1967 Vargas painting "Trick or Treat" sold for $71,600.[5]

The current auction record for a Vargas work is $179,250 for a 1963 Playboy illustration, realized by Heritage Auctions in February, 2010.[6]

His work was typically a combination of watercolor and airbrush. His mastery of the airbrush is acknowledged by the fact that the highest achievement in the community of airbrush artistry is the Vargas Award, awarded annually by Airbrush Action Magazine. Despite always using figure models, his images would often portray elegantly dressed, semi-nude to nude women of idealized proportions. Vargas' artistic trait would be slender fingers and toes, with nails often painted red.

Vargas is widely regarded as one of the finest artists in his genre. He also served as a judge for the Miss Universe beauty contest in 1956–58.[7]

Notable women painted by Vargas include Olive Thomas, Billie Burke, Nita Naldi, Marilyn Miller, Paulette Goddard and Ruth Etting.[8]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Current Auction Record, Heritage Auctions
  2. ^ Premier Magazine – The 25 Best Movie Posters Ever Premiere.com
  3. ^ Playboy 50 Years. The Cartoons. ISBN 0-8118-3976-1
  4. ^ Alberto Vargas and the Esquire Pinup Stephen Goddard, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas
  5. ^ Valdes-Dapena, Peter, "Playboy art: sex sells" CNN/Money (18 December 2003
  6. ^ Current Auction Record, Heritage Auctions
  7. ^ Pageant Almanac of the Miss Universe Pageant
  8. ^ Pin-Up Files: Alberto Vargas

References

  • Alberto Vargas: Works from the Max Vargas Collection, by Reid Stewart Austin, Hugh Hefner. 144pp (2006) (ISBN 978-0821257920).
  • Vargas, by Reid Austin and Alberto Vargas. 127 pp. (1978) (ISBN 0-517-530473 ) (autobiography).
  • Varga. The Esquire Years. A Catalogue Raisonné. 176 pp (1987) (ISBN 0-912383-48-8 ).
  • The Great American Pin-Up, by Charles G. Martignette and Louis K. Meisel, ISBN 3-8228-1701-5
  • Vargas, by Benedikt Taschen, text by Astrid Conte. 79 pp. (1990) (ISBN 3-89450-063-8).


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