Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 6

Alberto Vargas
From the Vargas Portfolio

About the Item

From the Vargas Portfolio **Portfolio Cover Not Included** Lithograph Only Alberto Vargas (1896-1982) was born in Arequipa, Peru, in 1896, the son of a successful photographer, and was educated in Switzerland. Arriving in New York in 1916, he was determined to stay in America and pursue what became an illustrious career. His name has become synonymous with pin-up girls, but in the early 1940s, he was just a guy hired by Esquire magazine to imitate departed star George Petty, who bolted over pay. Vargas initially aped Petty's sleek women with their telephone posing and large-hat lounging; soon, however, his own distinctive, delicate watercolor style emerged. His wide-eyed wonder- women rivaled Betty Grable as the ultimate pin-up girl of World War II. Vargas, who signed his Esquire work "Varga", had already achieved some notoriety for his Ziegfeld Follies and movie poster art. But Esquire made him famous, though he was paid poorly and, like Petty, eventually quit. Legal problems over ownership of his work, even of his own signature, plagued him. But late in his life, Vargas was given a second shot at fame and fortune by longtime fan Hugh Hefner. His regular Playboy slot in the 1960s and '70s elevated Vargas to a pinnacle eclipsing Petty. One of the true giants of American illustration, Alberto Vargas has created an art style so sensuous, so exquisite, that for the past six decades his magnificent paintings of women have come to embody the fantasies of three generations of women and men around the world. His work also appeared in Harper's Bazaar, Theatre Magazine, and Tattler. He died in December 1982.
  • Creator:
    Alberto Vargas (1896 - 1982, Peruvian)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Width: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Missouri, MO
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU747310550222

More From This Seller

View All
From the Vargas Portfolio
By Alberto Vargas
Located in Missouri, MO
From the Vargas Portfolio **Portfolio Cover Not Included** Lithograph Only Alberto Vargas (1896-1982) was born in Arequipa, Peru, in 1896, the son of...
Category

20th Century Realist Nude Prints

Materials

Lithograph

From the Vargas Portfolio
By Alberto Vargas
Located in Missouri, MO
From the Vargas Portfolio **Portfolio Cover Not Included** Lithograph Only Alberto Vargas (1896-1982) was born in Arequipa, Peru, in 1896, the son of...
Category

20th Century Realist Nude Prints

Materials

Lithograph

From the Vargas Portfolio
By Alberto Vargas
Located in Missouri, MO
From the Vargas Portfolio **Portfolio Cover Not Included** Lithograph Only Alberto Vargas (1896-1982) was born in Arequipa, Peru, in 1896, the son of...
Category

20th Century Realist Nude Prints

Materials

Lithograph

From the Vargas Portfolio
By Alberto Vargas
Located in Missouri, MO
From the Vargas Portfolio **Portfolio Cover Not Included** Lithograph Only Alberto Vargas (1896-1982) was born in Arequipa, Peru, in 1896, the son of...
Category

20th Century Realist Nude Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Blonde Vivienne
By Tom Wesselmann
Located in Missouri, MO
Blonde Vivienne, 1985-86 Transfer-printed service plate in colors. Diameter: 12 in. (30.5 cm). published by Rosenthal, Limited Edition, Germany
Category

1980s Pop Art More Art

Materials

Ceramic

National Palace Mexico City, Persecution of the Indian, Revolution, Independence
By (after) Diego Rivera
Located in Missouri, MO
(after) Diego Rivera "National Palace Mexico City, Central Stairway" (Persecution of the Indian, Revolution, Independence) 1933 from the portfolio "Frescoes of Diego Rivera" Published by the Museum of Modern Art, NY Hand-Signed by the Artist Diego Rivera was born on December 13, 1886 in the mountain town of Guanajuato in Mexico. His mother was an ardent Catholic and his father was a rich and aristocratic revolutionary fighter and an atheist. Little Diego decided in favor of atheism. He swore his family had to leave Guanajuato when he was six because of his diatribes against the Church. When he was eleven he attended the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts; his real teacher was Jose Posada...
Category

1930s Realist Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

You May Also Like

STANDING NUDE Signed Lithograph, Figurative Female Portrait, Realist Drawing
By Raphael Soyer
Located in Union City, NJ
STANDING NUDE an original hand drawn lithograph by Raphael Soyer, the renowned Russian-born American realist painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Printed on archival Arches paper 100%...
Category

1970s Realist Nude Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Desnudo de Frida Kahlo, Signed Lithograph by Diego Rivera
By Diego Rivera
Located in Long Island City, NY
This portrait depicts Rivera's second wife, the artist Frida Kahlo (1907-54), sitting on a bed wearing stockings and shoes and fastening rows of beads around her neck. An accident wh...
Category

1930s Realist Nude Prints

Materials

Lithograph

STANDING NUDE Signed Lithograph, Realist Portrait Young Woman, Figure Drawing
By Raphael Soyer
Located in Union City, NJ
STANDING NUDE an original hand drawn lithograph by Raphael Soyer, the renowned Russian-born American realist painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Printed on archival Arches paper 100%...
Category

1970s Realist Nude Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Nude Model with Banner and Fish Weathervanes, by Philip Pearlstein
By Philip Pearlstein
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Philip Pearlstein Title: Nude Model with Banner and Fish Weathervanes Year: 2010 Medium: Lithograph, Signed and Numbered in Pencil Edition: 40 Size: 34.5 x 25 in. (87.63 x ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled
By Théophile Alexandre Steinlen
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist: Theophile Alexandre Steinlen (Swiss, 1859-1923) Title: Untitled Year: c.1915 Medium: Lithograph Edition: Unknown, probably 400 Paper: Thin vellum Image size: 1...
Category

Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

STANDING NUDE DARK HAIR Signed Etching, Classic Female Nude, Casual Pose
By Raphael Soyer
Located in Union City, NJ
STANDING NUDE DARK HAIR is an original hand drawn lithograph by Raphael Soyer, the renowned Russian-born American realist painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Printed on archival prin...
Category

1970s Realist Nude Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Recently Viewed

View All