sloth unleashed

Alberto Vargas 

Alberto Vargas (American, 1896-1982). Laralie, 1930. Watercolor and pencil on paper laid on board

Alberto Vargas - “Red Means Go” - September 1941 Esquire Magazine Gatefold - The Gatefolds were very special in the Esquire Magazines from October 1940 through December 1945. The Gatefolds ended when Vargas left the magazine and began his legal fight with Esquire, even though the magazine continued to produce calendars through 1948. Poem below:

I’d love to play the romantic goon When Autumn features a harvest moon … I’d love to squire you around the town When the lights are up and the chips are down … To dance with you as the soft horns sigh And drink with you to the dreams that die … To hold you close for a last goodnight While a taxi tick’s in the dawn’s grey light … And yet, as delightful as this might be It stays in the realm of fantasy … For I know to well when our tryst were through That the “One in the Red would be Me … not You!”

April is a month in which, My judgment’s overruled, Oh, Boy, when I recall the times, That I’ve been April-fooled

Albert Vargas pin-up art for April 1941 Esquire calendar

www.stores.eBay.com/GrapefruitMoonGallery

Alberto Vargas

Varga 1948

Scheherazade by Alberto Vargas, 1921.  

During my time in high school I picked up a coffee table book of illustrations by Alberto Vargas only to relocate said book this afternoon.  Out of the dozens of famed pieces spanning multiple decades, this illustration from 1921 seemed most noteworthy, causing me to snap a quick photograph for all of you who may take interest.  

From Playboy, September 1963

Via Vintage Scans.

Esquire May 1947