Alberto Vargas, Pin-Up Extraordinaire

Alberto Vargas, A man born in Peru and a prolific Pin-Up artist, was born in the year 1896 and had a wonderful and colourful career and reached fame when creating his "Vargas Girls" for Esquire during WWII, which incidently were adapted for the the aircraft nose art of the said war.

But before his famous Erotic/Risqué drawings, Varagas had a number of "Ordinary" jobs which included his first employment by Adelson Hat Company where his forté was watercolours and pen. He soon moved to freelance work painting windows etc when he was snapped up to portray the "Ziegfield Follies". It was onward and upward from there and a quick search of the internet will provide many colourful images of these beautiful ladies drawn in Alberto's unique style. In 1927, Vargas heard the call of Hollywood and was called upon to create images for various movie advertisement posters including the aclaimed "The Sin of Nora". Shown Below.

Vargas was simply one of the finest Artists of his Genre which is still proven by his popularity today amongst collectors. Let me know what YOU think!

Édouard-Henri Avril AKA Paul Avril

Édouard-Henri Avril (21 May 1843–1928) was a painter and commercial artist. But his Erotic works were issued under the pseudonym Paul Avril after being commissioned to illustrate 80 vignettes for Théophile Gautier's novel Fortunio. His choice of name caused confusion at time because of his brothers name Paul Victor Avril. Edouard-Henri's reputation was soon established and he received many commissions to illustrate both major authors and the so-called "galante literature" of the day, a form of erotica. These books were typically sold in small editions on a subscription basis and usually organised by collectors.

Avril illustrated many works including John Cleland's "Fanny Hill" printed in 1908, a story of a passive woman's sexual awakening. Below is just one of the many illustrations from Fanny Hill "Fanny Emboldens William".

Avril's major work was "De Figuris Veneris" (On the figures of Venus) first published in 1824, which was an anthology of ancient Roman & Greek erotic writings, below we show the main illustrated lithograph of the title. Paul illustrated the French edition by Charles Hirsch in 1907. Avril died at Le Raincy, Paris, France in 1928 leaving behind an erotic legacy that is still being enjoyed by Erotica Lovers today.