Playboy 'Vargas girl' painting stolen

[Louis Cypher]

Associated Press
Dec. 9, 2003 08:48 AM


LARKSPUR, Calif. - A man walked into an art gallery in this San Francisco suburb and stole a Playboy "Vargas girl" painting worth $75,000 off its easel, police said.

The watercolor painting was one of the first of about 150 that Alberto Vargas did for Playboy magazine, according to Avanti Fine Art gallery owner Tony Pernicone.

Vargas drew his "Vargas girl" series for Esquire in the mid-1940s before the prints became a monthly feature in Playboy starting in 1960. He remained at Playboy until the mid-1970s. He died in 1982 at 86.

Pernicone bought the painting of the nude redheaded model in white high heels at an auction in Los Angeles last June. The artwork was featured in the October 1960 Playboy issue.

"It's covered by insurance, but that doesn't mean anything to me. This was historically important. This is what started (Vargas') career with Playboy," Pernicone said.

"It is one of the most important, if not the most important, painting Vargas did for Playboy," said Playboy corporate curator Aaron Baker. "Its replacement value is higher because it is such an early painting."

The Saturday afternoon heist took less than a minute, Pernicone said. The thief entered the gallery while Pernicone was on the telephone. He struggled to remove the painting from its easel before running away with it. Pernicone, who has three broken toes and uses a cane, tried to chase him.

The gallery has a security system that is on at night but not during the day.

Larkspur is about 17 miles north of San Francisco.