untitled (June calendar)

Alberto Vargas

1896–1982

untitled (June calendar), circa 1943

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: board; watercolor; airbrushing

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 50.5 x 75.9 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 19 7/8 x 29 7/8 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 24 x 32 in

Credit line: Gift of Esquire, Inc.

Accession number: 1980.0572.a

Not on display

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Inked Bodies

Pin-ups were a popular feature of mid-20th century military morale, propaganda, and advertising. During World War II, pin-up posters provided escapist fantasies for military men to carry their virility, masculinity, and heteronormativity with them into battle. One popular pin-up motif was an island girl, often depicted wearing a grass skirt. By the end of the war, it was common to see women painted onto airplanes and inked into skin.

Exhibition Label: "Alberto Vargas: The Esquire Pinups," Sep-2001, Stephen Goddard, Maria Buszek The costume of this calendar figure evokes the South Pacific and perhaps the allure of women overseas. Through such “exotic” South Pacific Varga Girls and its bawdy comics, Esquire often alluded to the beauty of the women U.S. soldiers encountered while stationed in the South Pacific.