In 1920 Florenz Ziegfeld hired the young Alberto Vargas to do drawings of the Ziegfeld Follies girls. Even though she hadn't appeared in the Follies in four years, the first person Ziegfeld asked to pose was Olive Thomas. This was because she had been his mistress for much of the time she had performed in the Follies and the Frolics and because, according to Ziegfeld's wife, actress Billie Burke, Olive was the only one of his mistresses he genuinely cared for. Ollie agreed. The portrait, finished after her death, became "Memories of Olive." For years it hung in the NYC theatre where Ziegfeld staged his Follies.

      Olive Thomas is long forgotten, save among silent film buffs. "Memories of Olive," on the other hand, became one of the most prized "pin-ups" of Vargas's long and extremely successful career.