Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez (9 February 1896 – 30 December 1982) was a Peruvian-American painter of pin-up girls.

[1] Alberto Vargas moved to the United States in 1916 after studying art in Europe, particularly in Zurich and Geneva, prior to World War I.

While he was in Europe he came upon the French magazine La Vie Parisienne, with a cover by Raphael Kirchner, which he said was a great influence on his work.

[1] The nose art of many American and Allied World War II aircraft was inspired and adapted from these Esquire pin-ups, as well as those of George Petty, and other artists.

Vargas' artistic work, paintings and color drawings, were periodically featured in issues of Playboy magazine in the 1960s and 1970s.

[6] At the December 2003 Christie's auction of Playboy archives, the 1967 Vargas painting Trick or Treat sold for $71,600 (equivalent to $119,000 in 2023).

[citation needed][9] Notable women painted by Vargas include Billie Burke, Ruth Etting, Paulette Goddard, Bessie Love, Irish McCalla, Marilyn Miller, Marilyn Monroe, Nita Naldi, Bernadette Peters, Olive Thomas, Mamie Van Doren, and Candy Moore from The Cars' Candy-O album.