Slim AaronsThe Pool at Villa Nirvana1971
1971
About the Item
- Creator:Slim Aarons (1916-2006, American)
- Creation Year:1971
- Dimensions:Height: 40 in (101.6 cm)Width: 60 in (152.4 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:
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 'Towboat At Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc'By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYTowboat At Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc 1969 (printed later) C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. A motorboat, used to...Category
1980s Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Slim Aarons 'Relaxing at the Palm Springs Tennis Club'By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYSlim Aarons Relaxing at the Club 1970 Chromogenic Lambda print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity. ...Category
1970s Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Slim Aarons 'St Tropez Garden' (Slim Aarons Estate edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYSaint-Tropez Garden 1977 (printed later) C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. An elegant woman poses in a garde...Category
1980s Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Slim Aarons 'Porto Ercole'By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYSlim Aarons Porto Ercole 1980 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. A jetty juts out from a rocky shoreline in...Category
1980s Realist Landscape Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Slim Aarons 'Brunch At Brennan's'By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYBrunch At Brennans 1960 c print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. circa 1960: Sunday brunch at Brennan's restaurant,...Category
1960s Modern Landscape Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Poolside Pairs, Kaufmann HouseBy Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYSlim Aarons Kaufmann Desert House 1970 C Print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 January 1970: The Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs, California, designed by Richard N...Category
1970s Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- "Iceland 1", photography by Mikael Lafontan (47x59in), 2014By Mikael LafontanLocated in Paris, France"Iceland 1" colour photograph of a mountainous landscape (Iceland) by Mikael Lafontan. Mikael Lafontan is a French-Swedish artist, born in 1968. He has been living and working in Pa...Category
2010s Photorealist Landscape Photography
MaterialsLambda
- "Iceland 2", photography by Mikael Lafontan (47x59in), 2014By Mikael LafontanLocated in Paris, France"Iceland 2", colour photograph of a mountainous landscape (Iceland) by Mikael Lafontan. Mikael Lafontan is a French-Swedish artist, born in 1968. He has been living and working in P...Category
2010s Photorealist Landscape Photography
MaterialsLambda
- "56th floor", photography by Jean-Michel Berts (43x47'), 2017By Jean-Michel BertsLocated in Paris, France"56th floor", color photograph by Jean Michel Berts. Jean Michel Berts has been a photographer since the age of 16, and has since gone on to gain in...Category
2010s Contemporary Landscape Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Stefanie Schneider Minis - Leaving in a Jet Plane I (29 Palms, CA)By Stefanie SchneiderLocated in Morongo Valley, CAStefanie Schneider's Minis 'Leaving in a Jet Plane I' (29 Palms, CA), 2005 signed and signature brand on verso Lambda digital Color Photographs based on a Polaroid Polaroid sized op...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Paper, Plexiglass, Color, Polaroid, Lambda
- Stefanie Schneider Minis - Last Exit Brooklyn (Stay)By Stefanie SchneiderLocated in Morongo Valley, CAStefanie Schneider's Minis 'Last Exit Brooklyn' (Stay), 2006 signed and signature brand on verso Lambda digital Color Photographs based on a Polaroid from the movie 'Stay' by Marc F...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsColor, Polaroid, Lambda, Plexiglass
- a Piece of Backflash - Pieces of BerlinBy Florian ReischauerLocated in Morongo Valley, CAa Piece of Backflash (Pieces of Berlin), 2009, 3/10, Lambda C-Print, 30x30cm signed Certificate, unmounted INSTANTDREAMS Gallery presents Florian Reischauer's project 'Pieces of Ber...Category
2010s Contemporary Landscape Photography
MaterialsLambda