This is for ONE 1992

Very Beautiful Art-Work Card!

1992 21st Century Archives Varga Girls Pin-Ups Calendar May 1945

💖37-Gatefold - May, 1945💖

Early in the 20th century, an American visual style was invented by the Peruvian-born artist Alberto Vargas. The "Vargas Girls" he painted, as they were later known, appeared in magazines, advertisements, and calendars, and on posters and airplanes -- and for all he painted, infinitely more were created by others working in Vargas-inspired style. Vargas wasn't the only pin-up artist -- George Petty and Gil Elvgren deserve mention as well -- but the Vargas Girl brand he created has endured as the highest example of the genre. Vargas Girls became a staple of Esquire and later appeared in Playboy on a monthly basis.

Vargas, who was a passionate artist rather than a businessman, spent the early '40s -- World War II -- bursting with patriotism rather than fuming over his awful Esquire contract. U.S. soldiers loved their Varga Girls, and the artist churned them out almost as part of the war effort. Esquire was sending crates of its magazine overseas, to be distributed for free. Varga Girls (and pinups by other artists) became favorites subjects for bomber jackets and the "nose art" that adorned bombers.

With her long legs, a narrow waist, voluptuous figure and ever-present adoring smile, the Vargas Girl was a sexualized “girl next door” who boosted morale for the soldiers fighting abroad. These images were literally going to war; this style of cheesecake, of which Vargas was the master, was as American as apple pie.