1896-1982

Born in Arequipa, Peru, Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez came to the United States in 1916 after studying art in Europe prior to World War I. His early career included work as an artist for the Ziegfeld Follies and for many Hollywood studios. Vargas' most famous piece of film work was that for the 1933 film The Sin of Nora Moran. He became famous in the 1940s as the creator of iconic World War II era pin-ups for Esquire magazine known as "Varga Girls."

In 1960s when Playboy magazine began to use his work as "Vargas Girls." His career flourished and he had major exhibitions of his work all over the world. The death of his wife Anna Mae in 1974 left him devastated and he stopped painting. He died of a stroke on December 30, 1982, at the age of 86.