Slim Aarons
Cannes Watersports, Estate Edition
1958

Name: Cannes Watersports, Estate Edition
Brand: Slim Aarons
Price: 2500 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Step back in time to the sunlit shores of the French Riviera with Slim Aarons' Cannes Watersports. This exquisite photograph captures the quintessential spirit of the 1950s holiday glamour, where the jet-set elite indulged in seaside pleasures against the backdrop of the legendary Carlton Hotel. In this vibrant scene, holidaymakers are captured in a moment of exhilarating action, waterskiing off the Carlton Hotel's pier—a bustling focal point in Cannes. The image is alive with motion as a sleek speedboat pulls a skier across the crystal clear waters, their wake trailing behind, and onlookers from the pier watch in admiration. The fluttering international flags add a touch of cosmopolitan elegance to the scene, suggesting the global allure of this luxurious destination. Aarons, known for his uncanny ability to capture the leisurely life of the wealthy, does not disappoint with this visual narrative. The stunning clarity and dynamic composition invite viewers to experience the thrill and opulence of a bygone era in one of the most glamorous spots along the Côte d'Azur. With the sophistication and excitement of vintage travel, the mid-century chic of 1950s Cannes, and the allure of the Mediterranean's golden age, this photograph is a celebration of leisure at its most stylish. Adding this piece to your collection will infuse your space with the vibrant energy and timeless elegance unique to the lens of Slim Aarons. Holidaymakers waterskiing from the pier of the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, 1958. 48 x 48 inches $4500 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 20 x 20 inches $2500 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this vibrant photograph, printed by the Slim Aarons estate. It is part of the estate's only official limited run, of 150. Estate stamp embossed on recto, hand numbered in ink on recto, with certificate of authenticity from the estate (not a secondary gallery licensing from the estate). Increasingly heralded for his influence, Slim Aarons (1916-2006) made a career out of photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places." Aarons is known for his iconic images of Hollywood glamour and luxurious people, places and lifestyles. Undercurrent Projects offers premium quality photographic prints from the Slim Aarons Archive, owned and housed by Getty Images. All photographs are printed and authorized by the Getty Images Gallery, London. Photographs are printed utilizing the original transparency held at the archive source. Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II. Though he earned a Purple Heart for his service, he declared that combat had taught him that the only beach worth landing on was decorated with beautiful people enjoying themselves in the sun. Slim Aarons is noted for his documentation of the Beautiful People over 50 years, encompassing high society, celebrity, aristocracy, and the jet set. He was born and raised in New York City and New Jersey and later New Hampshire. He took up photography as a teenager. At the age of eighteen, he enlisted in the U. S. Army and was later appointed official photographer at the United States Military Academy at West Point. During World War II he served as an army combat photographer for Yank magazine in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. After the war he became a freelance photojournalist, first based in Hollywood, then Rome, then New York. His photographs appeared in many magazines, including Life, Holiday, Town & Country, Look, Venture, and Travel & Leisure. His first book A Wonderful Time (1974) is considered a classic. * We are pleased to represent the entire archive of the Slim Aarons Estate, offering the official Slim Aarons Estate Edition (only offered in this edition of 150). Please contact us for additional photographs from Slim Aarons * Slide show includes a close-up of the Slim Aarons estate's stamp. The Slim Aarons Estate has released the limited Estate edition as a Lambda print, which is a modern c-type prints. They have chosen Lambda prints for their sharpness, clarity, colour saturation and quality, compared to archival inkjet prints. Lambda printing gives true continuous tone.

Creator:

Slim Aarons (1916-2006, American)

Creation Year:

1958

Dimensions:

Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)Width: 20 in (50.8 cm)

More Editions & Sizes:

20 x 20 inchesPrice: $2,50024 x 24 inchesPrice: $3,00030 x 30 inchesPrice: $3,35040 x 40 inchesPrice: $3,950

Medium:

Lambda

Period:

1950-1959

Condition:

Gallery Location:

Los Angeles, CA

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU14813534352

View Invoice

Shop All Slim Aarons

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, Aarons opened a bureau for Life magazine in Rome, where he took pictures capturing the postwar scene. He 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, Aarons 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 him 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.