Spirit of America Bookstore

Alberto Vargas
[1896-1982]
and 'The Varga Girls' Art

short profile books about Vargas art thumbnail gallery movies & TV, other media works about Alberto Vargas links

Peruvian-born artist Alberto Vargas [1896-1982] was the first and best of the American
'pinup' artists of the Twenties & Thirties, finding acclaim in Esquire Magazine during
World War II, and widespread fame in Playboy Magazine from the Fifties on.

browse Alberto Vargas posters at Amazon

Books About Vargas Art

	"Playboy's Vargas Girls" [1972] by The Editors of Playboy Playboy Press 10¾x8 pb [1972] out of print/used Playboy Press hardcover [1972] out of print/used
	"Varga: The Esquire Years - A Catalogue Raisonné" [1987] by Alberto Vargas, Foreword by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Alfred van der Marck Editions hardcover [4/95] out of print/used Alfred van der Marck Editions hardcover [9/87] out of print/used
	"Vargas, 20s-50s" [1990] Text by Astrid Rossana Conte Taschen 11¾x9½ pb [12/93] out of print/used Taschen 11¾x9 pb [6/90] out of print/many used Benedikt Taschen hardcover [6/90] out of print/scarce
	"Varga" art book [1995] by Tom Robotham with more than 90 illustrations in full color Booksales 12¼x9 hardcover [3/95] out of print/used Thunder Bay Press 14¾x10¾ hardcover [1995] out of print/used J.G. Press 14¾x10¾ hardcover [6/2003] out of print/many used Smithmark Publrs 13x9¾ hardcover [8/96] out of print/used
	"Alberto Vargas: The Esquire Years, Volume 1" art book [1996] by Michael Goldberg Collectors Press 5¾x4½ pb [10/96] out of print/used Collectors Press 5¾x4¾ hardcover [10/97] out of print/used "Alberto Vargas: The Esquire Years, Volume 2" art book [1997] Collectors Press 5¾x4½ hardcover [10/97] out of print/used
	"Varga Girls, Volume I" art book [1999] Text by Max Allan Collins Collectors Press 11¾x10 pb [10/99] out of print/used "Varga Girls, Volume II" art book [1999] Text by Max Allan Collins Collectors Press 11¾x10 pb [10/99] out of print/used
	"Alberto Vargas: Works From The Max Vargas Collection" [2006] by Reid Stewart Austin, Foreword by Hugh Hefner Bulfinch 13¼x10¼ hardcover [9/2006] for $29.70 Bulfinch/Sterling hardcover [8/2009] out of print/used

Pin-up Books featuring Varga Girls

	"Stolen Sweets: The Cover Girls of Yesteryear - Their Elegance, Charm & Sex Appeal" [1981] by Francis Smilby Playboy Press hardcover [1981] out of print/used
	"The Great American Pin-Up" [1996] by Charles G. Martignette & Louis K. Meisel Taschen 12¾x10 hardcover [10/96] out of print/used Taschen 10½x8 hardcover [9/2002] out of print/used

Thumbnail Gallery
AllPosters.com added Vargas prints in February 2007, but none remain on their site (2010)

browse Alberto Vargas posters at Amazon

TiTLE [YR] 11"x17" poster from AllPosters.com 11"x17" poster from Amazon

Motion Pictures & Television, Other Media

"Varga Girl: The Esquire Pin-up Girls" [indep 1995] 56-minute documentary film written & directed by Wolfgang Hastert; featuring 'a biographer' & pinup photographer Bunny Yeager Kultur Video color VHS [9/95] for $26.22 full credits at IMDb Wolfgang Hastert's official website

Tiger Lily's "Vargas Girls" video slideshow [3min. 10sec.] on YouTube
Nicko's "Vargas Girls" video slideshow [5min. 19sec.] on YouTube

Works About Alberto Vargas

"Vargas" autobiography [1978] by Alberto Vargas & Reid Stewart Austin, Foreword by Hugh Hefner Random House/Harmony pb [12/84] out of print/many used Random House/Harmony 12x9 hardcover [9/89] out of print/many used Random House/Harmony 12x9 hardcover [9/88] out of print/many used

Links
'Vargas Collection' official website
Alberto Vargas entry at Wikipedia
Alberto Vargas entry at Artcyclopedia
AllPosters.com added Vargas prints in February 2007, but none remain on their site (2010)
browse Alberto Vargas posters at Amazon

University of Kansas feminist history of The Varga Girl and WWII pin-ups
Alberto Vargas / Esquire Pinups Collection & Archives at the University of Kansas
JV's Alberto Vargas fansite
SAE's Alberto Vargas fansite
listed among Playboy's "55 Most Important People In Sex"
'Vargas Excitement' fansite at HappyJolly

Online sales in association with  

top of this page    |    back to Spirit of America Bookstore homepage