Slim AaronsSlim Aarons 'Westin Excelsior, Venice' Mid-century Modern Photography1955
1955
About the Item
- Creator:Slim Aarons (1916-2006, American)
- Creation Year:1955
- Dimensions:Height: 40 in (101.6 cm)Width: 40 in (101.6 cm)
- More Editions & Sizes:16 x 16 inches Price: $2,15020 x 20 inchesPrice: $2,50030 x 30 inchesPrice: $3,35040 x 40 inchesPrice: $3,950
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU32614441352
Slim Aarons
American photographer Slim Aarons captured the 20th century’s international jet set — U.S. socialites, European royalty, Hollywood stars — at play in sun-kissed locales like Monaco, Saint-Tropez and Palm Beach, as well as other luxurious settings around the globe.
Committed to eschewing makeup and artificial lighting, Aarons created images that are at once candid and polished, combining the relaxed posture of his subjects, who trusted him to document their lives, with the visual sharpness of a seasoned art director. Having gotten his start taking pictures for the U.S. military magazine Yank during World War II, he contributed over the course of his career to Life, Town and Country and Holiday magazines and published several books.
Aarons was born in Manhattan in 1916. He joined the army at 18, shooting military maneuvers at West Point before serving as a combat photographer, for which he was awarded a Purple Heart. After the war, he moved to California and began snapping socialites and movie stars. In the 1950s, he opened a bureau for Life magazine in Rome, where he took pictures capturing the postwar scene. Aarons was always able to win the trust of his elite subjects, who saw him as close to a peer, rather than a paparazzo. In a 2002 interview with The Independent, he remarked, ''I knew everyone. They would invite me to one of their parties because they knew I wouldn't hurt them. I was one of them.'' This access allowed Aarons to document the rich and famous with their guard down, reading newspapers and magazines, talking on the phone, relaxing by the pool, and chatting with friends. The 1957 photograph The Kings of Hollywood, for example, which won him wide acclaim, shows Clark Gable, Van Heflin, Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart laughing together as they celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Many of Aarons’s best-known images involve games and sports. In the 1972 Poolside Backgammon, two young women play the board game of the title against the backdrop of a majestic Acapulco estate. In 1958’s Cannes Watersports, a couple attempts to glide across the Golfe de la Napoule on Jet Skis, one expertly and one hanging on for dear life. And in Penthouse Pool, shot in Athens in 1961, a young woman wearing a yellow bathing cap smiles coyly at the camera, surrounded by friends and brightly colored seat cushions, with the Acropolis faintly visible in the background. Among Aarons’s books are 1974’s A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life, and its 2003 sequel, Once Upon a Time. His final book, A Place in the Sun, was published in 2005, one year before his death.
Find a collection of vintage Slim Aarons photography on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Slim Aarons 'Westin Excelsior, Venice'By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYWestin Excelsior in Venice 1957 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Slim Aarons, an acclaimed fine art photo...Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- Guests at the Villa Nirvana (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYCaption:Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, 1978. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity ...Category
1970s Realist Landscape Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Poolside Party (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYGuests by the pool at Nelda Linsk's desert house in Palm Springs, January 1970. The house was designed by Richard Neutra for Edgar Kaufman Estate stamped and hand numbered edition ...Category
1970s Realist Landscape Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Palm Beach Arts Festival (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYThe Palm Beach Arts Festival Procession, Florida, 1964. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. ...Category
1960s Realist Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Portofino Villa (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYGuests by the pool at Klaus Pudel's villa, the Casa Montefino, overlooking Portofino harbour, Portofino, Italy, August 1977. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with c...Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Slim Aarons, Fabrizia Lanza di Mazzarino (estate)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYDonna Fabrizia Lanza di Mazzarino relaxing in a boat on a small lake in the grounds of the Villa Tasca d'Almerita in Sicily, Italy, in October 1984. Estate stamped and hand numbered...Category
1980s Realist Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- The Palms at the Boardwalk - Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Color PhotographBy Deborah EddyLocated in Soquel, CAWonderful color photograph of the roller coaster and palm trees at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk by California artist Deborah Eddy (American, b. 1943)....Category
1980s Realist Color Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
- Coastal Oak Tree LandscapeBy Deborah EddyLocated in Soquel, CAWonderful color photograph of the gnarled trunk of a Coast Live Oak tree by California artist Deborah Eddy (American, b. 1943). Titled "Tree I" on the ma...Category
1980s Realist Landscape Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin, Photographic Paper
- Alpine Skiing, Estate EditionBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CASkiers waiting for the cable car at Verbier in Switzerland, 1964 Alpine Skiing Slim Aarons Estate Edition Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate. Certificate of Authenticity...Category
1960s Realist Landscape Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Alpine Skiing, Estate EditionBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CASkiers waiting for the cable car at Verbier in Switzerland, 1964 Alpine Skiing Slim Aarons Estate Edition Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate. Certificate of Authenticity...Category
1960s Realist Landscape Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Hôtel Du Cap-Eden-Roc, Estate EditionBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CAHolidaymakers in a motorboat off the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on the French Riviera, 1969. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and sta...Category
1960s Realist Landscape Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Pool by the Sea, Estate EditionBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CAGuests round the swimming pool at the Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, Antibes, France, August 1969. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by ...Category
1960s Realist Landscape Photography
MaterialsLambda