Slim AaronsGwendolyn Brooks, Chicago Poet (Aarons Estate Edition)1960
1960
About the Item
- Creator:Slim Aarons (1916-2006, American)
- Creation Year:1960
- Dimensions:Height: 26 in (66.04 cm)Width: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- More Editions & Sizes:12 x 12 inchesPrice: $1,80016 x 16 inchesPrice: $2,15020 x 20 inchesPrice: $2,500
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Framing:Framing Options Available
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU32613155592
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.
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1950s Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
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1960s Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
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1960s Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Nancy Borland (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYNancy Borland 1976 (printed later) Chromogenic print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Mrs. William (Nancy) Borlan...Category
1970s Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Nina Dyer (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYNina Dyer 1958 (printed later) Chromogenic print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Fashion model Nina Dyer, wife o...Category
1950s Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Alice Topping in Palm Beach (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYAlice Topping 1959 (printed later) Chromogenic print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Socialite Alice Topping sit...Category
1950s Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
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20th Century American Modern Portrait Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper, Color, Lambda, C Print
- Il Pellicano Pool by Silm Aarons (Landscape Photography, Figurative, Nude)By Slim AaronsLocated in Brighton, GBFor a limited time only these Slim Aarons prints are available to purchase at 15% discount. Please contact the gallery for any queries. Please bear in mind that all prints are produ...Category
20th Century Modern Portrait Photography
MaterialsC Print, Lambda
- Poolside Interruption by Slim Aarons (Portrait Photography, Figurative)By Slim AaronsLocated in Brighton, GBFor a limited time only these Slim Aarons prints are available to purchase at 15% discount. Please contact the gallery for any queries. Please bear in mind that all prints are produ...Category
20th Century Modern Portrait Photography
MaterialsC Print, Lambda
- Pulitzer Fashions by Slim AaronsBy Slim AaronsLocated in Brighton, GBFor a limited time only these Slim Aarons prints are available to purchase at 15% discount. Please contact the gallery for any queries. Please bear in mind that all prints are produ...Category
20th Century American Modern Portrait Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper, Color, Lambda, C Print