untitled (playing card)

Alberto Vargas, artist

1896–1982

untitled (playing card), circa 1948

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: watercolor; airbrushing

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 76.5 x 55.4 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 30 1/8 x 21 13/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 32 x 24 in

Credit line: Gift of Esquire, Inc.

Accession number: 1980.0672

Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Exhibition Label:
“Embodiment,” Nov-2005, Kate Meyer
During the 1940s Alberto Vargas produced pin-ups that were published by Esquire Magazine as gatefolds, calendars and playing cards. Like the later Barbie Doll, the “Varga Girl” became emblematic of a distinctly American notion of ideal beauty. This Varga Girl is contorted to fit neatly in the rectangular format of a playing card, and she emphasizes her unattainable physique with her hand gesture.

Exhibition Label:
"Alberto Vargas: The Esquire Pinups," Sep-2001, Stephen Goddard, Maria Buszek
Beginning in 1941 Esquire marketed decks of Varga playing cards. These were initially drawn from the gatefolds (see the July 1941 gatefold exhibited), but after 1941 special paintings were done for the cards, as in the two examples from 1943 exhibited.