VARGA

The Varga Girls, created by Alberto Vargas for Esquire magazine between 1940 and 1946, are among the most enduring images of American popular culture. Not long after Esquire published the first pinup, Varga Girls could be found in barber shops across the country and in Army barracks around the world. Along with the music of Glenn Miller and the jokes of Bob Hope, these images are often credited with raising the morale of American troops. The enormous popularity of these pictures during World War II was spurred, ironically, by the Post Office's attempt, in 1943, to revoke Esquire's mailing privileges on grounds of obscenity. During the ensuing trial, a spokesman for the magazine admitted that the Varga Girls were "frankly published for the entertainment they afford, and we do not contend that we publish them as art." Given the manner in which they were published and circulated, few people would have disputed this assessment at the time. In recent years, collectors have been known to pay up to $300,000 for original Vargas paintings from his pre- and post-Esquire days. The original Esquire paintings are housed in the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas, and there are no plans to put them on the market. But limited edition reproductions of these paintings, published by the San Francisco Art Exchange, routinely sell out at prices of $1000 and up. There are several reasons for the renewed interest in the Varga Girls. In particular, the faces of the Varga Girls express warmth, innocence, and optimism. It was undoubtedly that innocence and optimism-as well as the eroticism-that made the Varga Girls so popular during World War II. And it is because of these qualities that the Varga Girls, over 90 of which are presented in full color in this volume. This beautiful color collection is guaranteed to revive many happy memories, and to fascinate generations to come. Out of Print. Condition: Very Fine.