According to his own words it must have been a warm, summer day in the heart of New York City. Shortly after the first afternoon chimes, the 20 year old Peruvian Alberto Vargas was  surrounded by the presence of countless elegant American women. Doors slamming open and one after the other beautiful appearance strolled with him through the streets of New York. At that very moment all his doubts about the future disappeared. He had impulsively decided that the boat to Peru would depart without him.

In the midst of 1916, he had left Europe, that had been divided by WWI. This was also the reason that Alberto had to abort his career in Europe. The Louvre in Paris, where he had admired the paintings of the Great Masters, was an eye-opener for him. Initially, his father, Max Vargas, had a future as a photographer in mind for his son. Max was a famous, internationally well-known photographer and he had the expectation that his eldest son would follow in his father’s footsteps. Father and son had in common that they both had an eye for beauty and detail. In his early teens Alberto assisted his father in his studio. Here he learned the tricks of the profession, from retouching negatives to the appliance of artistic methods. It was in this same studio where Alberto put his first paint from a colour palette on paper.

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New York city was dazzling and alive and the people were leading a fast live. Alberto was absorbed by the city and all its excitations. Jazz music sounded everywhere in the streets. He intensively experienced the Jazz Age period, which was followed  by the Roaring Twenties with the rise of the Art Deco style. To pay for his expenses in America, he continued with the work that was known to him, the work he had helped his father with in the photo studio. However, he did not want to abandon his dream: to one day become a part of the Great Masters society. Determined, he continued working on his paintings. He was convinced that there would come a time that people would notice his painting skills.

​A great leap forward. The by Alberto painted film posters of sensual women did indeed not stay unnoticed. In the mid-thirties he and his wife Anna Mae, who was a frequent model and also his representative, left for Hollywood. Here he worked successfully for major movie studios, including 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers. A payment dispute resulted in the fact that Alberto was not welcome at the studio anymore and left him in 1939 without work.

“What is more beautiful than a
beautiful girl?”  - Alberto Vargas -

The men's magazine Esquire was desperately seeking a successor for pin-up artist George Petty. Petty was very popular through his ‘Petty Girl 'section and he was a strong colleague/competitor of Alberto. The father of George was also a photographer and, like Alberto, he also was an apprentice of his father. There could not be a more suitable successor than Alberto and the time urged for the magazine.
American soldiers were sent to participate in WWII. Esquire believed that the men that were on the battlefield, would appreciate a reminder of home. That was a good move of Esquire. Varga's first pin-up painting for Esquire in 1940 was received with great enthusiasm with a, for that era, edgy appearance of a typical American young lady (the girl next door). Letters were sent by GI’s, asking for more! After a while Alberto’s paintings were given the honorary "Varga Girls" designation.
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After this huge success the yearly Esquire calendar came on the market for 25 ¢. A collection of 12 elegant American ladies with each month an edgy poem of Phil Stack. Oftentimes the Varga’s Girls were used as inspiration for the paintings on the bombers, the so-called Nose-art artworks. The woman as figurehead and guardian of the crew on board.
Many people say that Alberto Vargas’ paintings were the best during the WWII. This is also evident from the prices paid for an original Esquire calendar from that period. Original Plan B managed several times to lay their hand on an Esquire calendar or a part thereof.
 
It is remarkable that in general these calendars are in mint condition. A salesman once told that the calendar he owns belonged to his father and probably must have been stored over 60 years in a safe location. The calendar was found when clearing out the house after his father, who participated in WWII, had died. This calendar with the 12 Varga girls must have had special meaning and fill him with precious memories. The thick paper had yellowed, but strangely enough that made it even more beautiful. In the course of time, the background was given a warm patina glow, so it seemed like the women on every page even appealed more to one’s imagination. Antique and unique is what we go for.
 
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