Born in
Arequipa,
Peru, on 9 February 1896, he was the son of noted Peruvian photographer
Max T. Vargas. Alberto Vargas moved to the United States in 1916 after studying art in Europe, particularly in Zurich and Geneva, prior to World War I. While he was in Europe, he came upon the French magazine
La Vie Parisienne, with a cover by
Raphael Kirchner, which he said was a great influence on his work. His early career in New York included work as an artist for the
Ziegfeld Follies and for many Hollywood studios. Ziegfeld hung his painting of
Olive Thomas at the theater, and she was thought of as one of the earliest Vargas Girls. Vargas's most famous piece of film work was the poster of the 1933 film
The Sin of Nora Moran, which portrays a near-naked
Zita Johann in a pose of desperation, bearing little resemblance to the real actress. The poster is frequently named one of the greatest movie posters ever made. '' for comparison Vargas became famous in the 1940s as the creator of iconic World War II-era pin-ups for
Esquire known as "Vargas Girls". Between 1940 and 1946 Vargas produced 180 paintings for the magazine. A legal dispute with
Esquire over the use of the name "Varga" resulted in a judgement against Vargas. He struggled financially until 1959 when
Playboy began to use his work. Over the next 16 years he produced 152 paintings for the magazine. Many of Vargas's works from his period with
Esquire are now held by the
Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas. The museum was given those works in 1980 along with a large body of other art from the magazine. At the December 2003
Christie's auction of
Playboy archives, the 1967 Vargas painting
Trick or Treat sold for $71,600 (). His work was typically a combination of
watercolor and
airbrush. His mastery of the airbrush is acknowledged by the founding of the Vargas Award, given annually by
Airbrush Action Magazine and named after him. Despite always using figure models, he often portrayed elegantly dressed, semi-
nude to nude women of idealized proportions. Vargas's artistic traits 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 from 1956 to 1958. Notable women painted by Vargas include
Billie Burke,
Ruth Etting,
Paulette Goddard,
Bessie Love,
Irish McCalla,
Marilyn Miller,
Marilyn Monroe,
Nita Naldi,
Bernadette Peters,
Olive Thomas,
Mamie Van Doren, and Candy Moore from
The Cars'
Candy-O album. ==See also==