Original painting on batik rice paper on board.

This is an original Dior Vargas.  The value this piece was a retail of approx. $30,000 USD when we were working with Vargas in the early 1990s.

During the same time period, Vargas was featuered at NYC's Art Expo, showing a $250,000 USD batiked piano.  He was best known for the wood furniture pieces that he batiked to look like marble with images of flowers or birds on them.  His most collectible furniture items were the intricate entry pieces that had matching mirrors.  These sold from $35,000 - $125,000 USD.

I have some of his works in my personal collection, and I believe that there is a NY gallery or two that may still have some of his work. 

Vargas was a gifted artist with quite an explosive temperament.  It was odd to see such beauty and mesmerizing work come from a hot tempered fellow like Dior Vargas.

I have heard rumors that he has passed, but I do not know that for certain.

Here is some bio info:

Many artists create pieces that are original, but an artist whose work is truly unique comes along quite rarely. Dior Vargas is one of those artists. He combines ancient oriental techniques with a post-modernist, north-American flare.

Although he was born in Hawaii (1930), he was raised in Cuba. In the early 1970's Dior Vargas returned home and worked for the successful television show, Hawaii Five-O. It was on the set of this program that he met Takeo Nakamura, one of the few surviving artists to master the batik technique at the time. Batik on rice paper originated in Japan and it's techniques are traditionally passed on from generation to generation. Fortunately, Nakamura accepted Vargas as his student. For the next 6 years, four of them in Japan, Dior Vargas studied under this Japanese artist, and strived to master this extremely difficult painting technique. He achieved his goal, and is now thought to be the world's foremost practitioner of this ancient style. He has become so at ease with the methodology required to create a batik piece, that he is able to lay batik patterns on almost any surface. He has laid batik on everything from paper to vases and even furniture. To date, one of his most fabulous creations is a 1928 Ford Phaeton, which has been entirely laid with batik inside and out; complete with the artist's signature on the dashboard. It is truly a one-of a kind luxury item. Vargas batiks are not only original works of art, they are quite beautiful and somewhat mysterious; important elements often ignored in modern, post-modern and contemporary art.

His talents have afforded him the chance to build a successful career as an artist and to have several residences worldwide. His reputation is incomparable as many of his collectors are A-list celebrities such as Elton John, Bob Hope, Sean Connery, Jacqui Macy and Cher; and political royalty like the Sultan of Brunei, Princess Diana and Jackeline Kennedy Onassis.

Best of luck,

GG