Pin-up Girls By Alberto Vargas

Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas (9 February 1896 – 30 December 1982) was a noted Peruvian painter of pin-up girls and erotica. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists. Numerous of the original Vargas paintings have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. 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. 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. He became famous in the 1940s as the creator of iconic World War II era pin-ups for Esquire magazine known as "Varga Girls." The nose art of many World War II aircraft was adapted from these Esquire pin-ups.