ART AFICIONADO: Alberto Vargas

Monday, February 9, 2026

Alberto Vargas

Art Appreciation

Peruvian-American painter Alberto Vargas was born on February 9, 1896, in Arequipa, Peru. He was the son of a noted photographer, which exposed him early to image-making and studio practice.

Vargas studied art in Europe, including formal training in Zürich and Geneva, where he absorbed classical draftsmanship and academic realism. By the late 1910s, he relocated to the United States, settling in New York and later Hollywood, where he found early work designing sets and portraits.

His first major professional breakthrough came through work in theatrical and film illustration, including commissions connected to Broadway productions and early Hollywood studios. Vargas’s career reached national prominence in the 1940s when his pin-up illustrations—soon dubbed “Varga Girls”—appeared in Esquire magazine.

His technique blended precise pencil drawing with airbrush and watercolor, producing idealized female figures with smooth gradients, luminous skin tones, and carefully controlled highlights. Vargas favored elongated proportions, minimal backgrounds, and suggestive yet playful poses, creating images that balanced glamour with restraint.

During World War II, his illustrations became cultural icons, widely circulated among American servicemen and emblematic of wartime morale.

After a legal dispute over naming rights, Vargas continued his work independently and later found renewed success in Playboy during the 1960s and 1970s. Among his most recognized works are Petty Girl-inspired Vargas Pin-Ups, Vargas Girl with Blue Drapery, and numerous Esquire centerfold illustrations from 1940–1946.