Alberto Vargas
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Alberto Vargas (1896-1982) was an American pin-up artist.
His first magazine work was with Esquire. It used both artwork and photographs; the best-known early artist was George Petty, although he was later replaced by Alberto Vargas, who was less expensive and then less well known.
Commercial pin-ups increasingly challenged limits. Playboy magazine moved well beyond Esquire in December 1953, printing a foldout that showed bare breasts, and suggesed full nudity but did not display genitalia. It welcomed Vargas and other skilled non-photographic artists, while interviews with its photographers and photo editors were studied in serious photography magazines. It evoked both moral condemnation and great sales.