Slim AaronsThe King of Jazz: Louis Armstrong in Rome (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)1949
1949
About the Item
- Creator:Slim Aarons (1916-2006, American)
- Creation Year:1949
- Dimensions:Height: 24 in (60.96 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Framing:Framing Options Available
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU148182822
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: Los Angeles, CA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Backgammon By The PoolBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CACountess Peter Jean-Baptiste de Manio (left) and Mary-Beth Turner playing backgammon by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida, 1959. Slim Aarons Backgammon By The Pool...Category
1950s American Realist Black and White Photography
MaterialsEmulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
- New England SkiingBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CATwo women recline on improvised sunbeds at the Cranmore Mountain Resort, North Conway, New Hampshire, 1955. Slim Aarons New England Skiing Black an...Category
1950s American Realist Black and White Photography
MaterialsEmulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
- Palm Bay Club, Estate Edition Photograph: 1950s Skiing in New HampshireBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CATwo female skiers outside the Carroll Reed Ski Service Shop and Check Room in New Hampshire, 1955. Slim Aarons New England Skiing Black and White Photogr...Category
1950s American Realist Black and White Photography
MaterialsEmulsion, Photographic Paper, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
- Liz Pringle Refreshments in JamaicaBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CAFashion model Liz Pringle drinking from a coconut at the Round Hill resort, Montego Bay, Jamaica. Slim Aarons Liz Pringle Refreshments in Jamaica Black and White Photography Slim Aa...Category
1950s American Realist Black and White Photography
MaterialsEmulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
- Holiday Hair CheckBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CAFaith Gibbons checks her hair in the mirror of a motor scooter, Bermuda, 1958. She is wearing a striped Irish linen overblouse by Donald Davies of Dublin. Slim Aarons Holiday Hair Check...Category
1950s American Realist Black and White Photography
MaterialsEmulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
- New England SkiingBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CASkis leaning against the wall of a hut marked 'Ski Instructors Only' in New Hampshire, 1955. New England Skiing Black and White Photography Slim Aarons Estate Edition Numbered and s...Category
1950s American Realist Black and White Photography
MaterialsEmulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
- Tennessee Williams Vintage Mid 20th Century Broadway Theatre Gay ContemporaryBy Roddy McDowall 1Located in New York, NYTennessee Williams Vintage Mid 20th Century Broadway Theatre Gay Contemporary Roddy McDowall (British American, 1928-1998) "Tennessee Williams," Vinta...Category
1970s American Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
- 1970s Fashion editorial photo Turban and FeathersLocated in Wilton Manors, FLKenn Duncan (1928-1986). Woman with Turban and Feathers, ca. 1973. 11 x 14 inches; 12 x 15 inches framed. The print was used for publication in After Dark Magazine. From the estate of William Como, Editor in Chief, After Dark Magazine. Kenneth Duncan was born September 22, 1928, in New Jersey. He began his career as a skater and then a dancer. After breaking his foot and taking a six-week course on photography at a YMCA, he became a photographer. Duncan worked as a principal photographer for After Dark and Dance Magazine. His photographs also regularly appeared in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Life, Time, and Newsweek. In addition, he photographed a score of Broadway shows, including Hair, Applause, The Elephant Man, and Sophisticated Ladies and many dance and Broadway stars including Chita Rivera...Category
1970s American Realist Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- Untitled (Boy with Book)By Larry ClarkLocated in New York, NYLarry Clark Untitled (Boy with Book), 1971/c. 1981 Gelatin Silver Print 11 x 14 inchesCategory
1970s American Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- Colette (Victorian Punk)By William CouponLocated in New York, NYColette (Victorian Punk) Archival pigment print image size: 48 x 48 inches Signed and numbered edition of 10 William Coupon is an American photographer, born in New York ...Category
1970s American Realist Black and White Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- David Byrne (Talking Heads)By William CouponLocated in New York, NYDavid Byrne (Talking Heads) Archival pigment print image size: 24 x 24 inches Signed and numbered edition of 25 William Coupon is an American ph...Category
1970s American Realist Black and White Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Untitled (Girl with Cigarette)By Larry ClarkLocated in New York, NYUntitled (Girl with Cigarette), 1963/c. 1981 Gelatin Silver Print 14 x 11 inchesCategory
1960s American Realist Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin