Realist Photography

Victor Arimondi (1942-2001). Portrait, ca. 1975. Period print measures 11 x 14 inches. Artist studio stamp on verso. Victor Arimondi (November 8, 1942 – July 24, 2001) was an Italian American photographer and model who lived and worked in Europe before moving to the United States in the late 1970s. His early fashion photography, his portraits of Grace Jones and other artists, and his male nudes photographed in New York and San Francisco captured the pre-AIDS culture of the 1970s and early 1980s. Arimondi's nudes were collected in several books, including David Leddick's award-winning[1] The Male Nude, (New York: Taschen 1998, 2005 and 2015). The photographer's later work documented homeless individuals in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood and the toll of the AIDS epidemic on the city. His photographs, featured in several posthumous exhibitions, also are in the collections of Sweden's museum of modern art, Moderna Museet, and San Francisco's GLBT Historical Society. Biography Arimondi was born Vittorio Maria Tevitti to his unwed mother, Alessandra Calligaris, in Bologna, Italy on November 8, 1942. His mother struggled financially, which left an impression on her only child. In 1948, she temporarily left him at a children's boarding school and orphanage in Italy to move to Sweden for a job. There she met and married Bruno Arimondi, who adopted her son. The family returned to Naples, Italy in 1952 where Victor graduated from high school.[1] In 1960, Arimondi returned to Sweden to study at the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, although he did not graduate. Meanwhile, he worked at several blue collar jobs, including as a mailman, before he gave up on traditional full-time work to pursue what he considered more essential— a life of creative expression. He created costume-like clothing for himself and friends and at age 19 became a fashion model. Even as a teenager, the Italian born photographer who spent his 20s and 30s primarily based in Sweden, noted that he preferred fantasy to the trials of real life.[1] That conflict, and his passion for beauty as well as his sexual energy, were major factors in his life and his work.[2] From 1965 through 1972 Arimondi worked as model in London, Milan, Germany, New York and Stockholm, appearing in catalogs and fashion magazines including Vogue , Harper's Bazaar and Esquire and on the runway in several Valentino fashion shows. In 1972 he decided to try working on the other side of the lens as a photographer to better express his creativity.[2] Arimondi moved to New York in 1979 and continued to build his photography portfolio. Portrait of Bearded Man, New York City, 1979 Two years later, in 1981, he moved to San Francisco where he lived and worked for twenty years until his death of AIDS at age 58 on July 24, 2001. The year he moved to San Francisco, Arimondi opened a photo gallery in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood for a short time. When he struggled financially, he gave up on trying to earn a living through commercial fashion photography and closed the gallery.[3] Arimondi returned to modeling for the financial benefits, though he did so on less of an international scale than in his early years. He continued to create photographic portraits of the denizens of the San Francisco gay and arts cultures, to shoot male nudes and publish his work in magazines, and he began to compose and photograph evocative still lifes using his own photographic images. Many of them touched on the death of dozens of his former photography models from AIDS. Arimondi was in the midst of a new photography project that brought together his background as a fashion photographer and his more recent social documentary work when he died several months after he learned he was HIV-positive.[4] The project featured his former colleague, haute couture cover model Ivy Nicholson,[5] who he found living homeless in San Francisco. Several of the haunting portraits he took of her were later included in a noted group exhibit at SF Camerawork. Art Arimondi's early photography in the 1970s in Stockholm included portraits of the stars of Sweden's fashion, theater and dance worlds. His first two photography exhibits were in Stockholm and met with mixed reviews. But as he matured as a photographer and tapped into his fashion world contacts, Arimondi landed a number of commercial fashion jobs, including shooting for the Italian designer Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A.'s I.Magnin department store ad that ran in Vogue. Marlboro Man Nude, New York City,1980. He also shot other artists and models for his own portfolio, including Grace Jones, the Norwegian actress, Liv Ullmann, and the American writer, Norman Mailer. Arimondi's aesthetic vision was focused on fantasy and drama, and he prided himself on pushing limits.[6] Although less well-known than his San Francisco contemporary...

This early 1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of t...

Artist: Paul Strand – American (1890-1976) Title: Cristo, Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca Year: 1933, printed 1967, Da Capo Press, New York Medium: Photogravure hand-printed from the original plates on BFK Rives paper Publisher: Da Capo Press, 1967, New York Sight size: 10 ¼ x 7 7/8 in. (260 x 200 mm) Sheet size: 15 3/4 x 12 3/8 in. (402 x 313 mm) Framed size: 17 x 14 inches Edition:1000 Condition: Excellent This hand-pulled photogravure is from Paul Strand’s Mexican Portfolio, first published in 1933. This photogravure is from the 2nd edition, published in 1967. It is in excellent condition. It is enclosed in a simple metal frame and Plexiglas only for protection. A seminal work by a legendary figure in 20th century American photography, the photographs taken by the author on his travels through Mexico in 1932-33 show architecture, landscape, the indigenous people, and religious folk sculpture. Strand's work first made its appearance as "Photographs of Mexico" in a limited edition of 250 copies in 1940, with the printing of the steel-faced gravure plates by master platemaker Otto Wackernagel being supervised by Strand himself and executed by Charles Furth and the Photogravure and Color Company. The second edition used the original Wackernagel plates, printed by Albert Delong at the Andersen Lamb Company of Brooklyn. Strand was even more pleased with this version, stating "Delong has made these plates sing." The images are a celebration of the subjects' pride, dignity and endurance. Paul Strand (1890–1976) is considered one of the most significant photographers of the 20th century. His breakthrough work in the 1910s heralded photography’s importance as a modern art form. Early in his career he broke from the soft, impressionistic Pictorialist style to produce among the first abstract images made with a camera. His questioning attitude led him to radically change his work multiple times in his career, always with the highest ambitions for the quality of his photographic prints. In 1932, Carlos Chavez, the director of the fine arts department at the Secretariat of Public Education in Mexico, invited Strand to Mexico. At this time, the Mexican government was concerned with demonstrating a national culture that was reflective of a burgeoning, modern, twentieth-century Mexico. In light of this, Chavez invited Strand to document the new social and physical environment. Over the next two years, Strand travelled around Mexico photographing...

This mid-1960s aerial seascape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a high angle view of people swimming next to the ketch 'Traveler II' , Stocking Isla...

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks at Walpi First Mesa Hopi Village 1920 Photograph Original Sepia toned Silver gelatin photographic print by Charles Roshe (British, 1885-1974). Provenance: Mary Pickford, Elizabeth (Bess) Huggins. Image 10.75"H x 13.75"W He was Mary Pickford's favorite cinematographer and a personal friend, shooting all of the films in which she starred from 1918 to 1927, before they had a falling out during production of Coquette (1929). He was the first cinematographer to receive an Academy Award, along with Karl Struss, for Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), and won again for The Yearling (1946), with Leonard Smith and Arthur Arling. He was also nominated four times. Walpi, pueblo (village), Navajo county, northeastern Arizona, U.S., on the edge of a high mesa in the Hopi Indian Reservation. It comprises a group of angular stone houses of two to three stories crowded on a narrow tip of the steep-walled mesa at an elevation of 6,225 feet (1,897 metres). The original pueblo (founded c. 1700) was on a lower part of the mesa, but following the Pueblo Rebellion, the inhabitants moved to the top as a defensive measure against Spanish retaliation. Walpi is known for an antelope ceremony and for snake dances, held during odd years in August and generally closed to non-Hopi spectators. Shitchumovi (Sichomivi) pueblo is adjacent and Hano is nearby. Pickford was the first Canadian to win an Oscar. She was also the second to win best actress and the first for a role in a film with sound. She was one of the founding members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 1919 Pickford took the lead in organizing the United Artists Corporation with Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks. In 1920, after the dissolution of her first marriage (1911–19) to actor Owen Moore, she married Fairbanks (divorced 1936). Pickford’s popularity continued unabated in Pollyanna (1920), Little Lord...

This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a man wearing diving equipment talking with a girl in a wicker chair on the beach, Bahamas...

This mid-1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Swedish model Olimpia Hruska, wearing a bikini, poses against a rock on the Costa Smeralda...

Edward Weston (American, 1886-1958) Eggs and Slicer, 1930 Gelatin silver print, printed later by Cole Weston; signed, titled, dated and numbered '3E' by Cole Weston in pencil and 'Ed...

This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a man wearing diving equipment talking with a girl in a wicker chair on the beach, Bahamas...

Helen Frankenthaler Hand signed and inscribed photograph, ca. 1987 Photograph printed on offset lithograph Hand signed and inscribed by Helen Frankenthaler on the front Frame Include...

An original 1920s silver gelatin print by photographer Tina Modotti, showing a drawing of soldiers and families by Clemente Orozco. Photo is stamped “Photographs-Tina Modotti Mexico...

This 1955 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a family day out at the Parrot Jungle amusement park near Miami. This is an estate stamped and...

This mid-1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of Friends boarding a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco. This is an estate stamped...

This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of friends squeeze onto an inflatable raft at the Venice Lido, Venice, Italy. This...

This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features film stars (left to right) Clark Gable (1901 - 1960), Van Heflin (1910 - 1971), Gary Cooper...

Lillian Crawford, the wife of actor Lee Kinsolving, in Palm Beach, May 1970. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aaron...

'Gorbals Boys' (1948) by Bert Hardy Limited Edition 44/300 Silver Gelatin Fibre Print Paper size 10 x 12 inches Printed later Two boys in the Gorbals area of Glasgow. The Gorbal...

This mid-1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of Friends boarding a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco. This is an estate stamped...

This 1970s urban photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a poodle entering a barber shop on a street in Deauville, Normandy, France. This is an estate sta...

This mid-1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Sarah Marson Williams enjoying a cocktail on the beach at the Hilton Hotel, Needhams Point,...

An original 1920s silver gelatin print by photographer Tina Modotti, showing a Diego Rivera fresco in the Secretariat of Education in Mexico City, Mexico. Photo is stamped “Photogra...

This mid-1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of Friends boarding a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco. This is an estate stamped...

Original gelatin silver print by Photographer Tina Modotti. Stamped “Photographs-Tina Modotti Mexico, D.F.” on reverse. Photograph size: 7 5/6" x 9 5/8". Archivally matted to 16...

This mid-1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of Friends boarding a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco. This is an estate stamped...

This late 1980s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers at a beach near Portinatx, Ibiza, Spain. This is an estate stamped and han...

Guests by the pool at Nelda Linsk's desert house in Palm Springs, January 1970. The house was designed by Richard Neutra for Edgar J. Kaufmann Over the course of a career lasting half a century, Slim Aarons (1916-2006) portrayed high society, aristocracy, authors, artists, business icons, the celebrated and their milieu. In doing so, he captured a golden age of wealth, privilege, beauty and leisure, a history of glamour that occurred alongside—but quite separate from—the cultural and political backdrop of the second half of the Twentieth Century. Increasingly known for his influence, Aarons's casually glamorous jetset aesthetic can be seen today in fashion, art, and celebrity photography. Recent articles credit his work with inspiring the casually flawless style of top Instagram influencers, full of sunshine and escapism. Reference: "Dive in: how Slim Aarons art directed the poolside summer. French brand Maje are the latest label to take inspiration from Slim Aarons’ pictures of the jetset on holiday." Slim Aarons Poolside Party...

This mid-1960s aerial seascape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a high angle view of people swimming next to the ketch 'Traveler II' , Stocking Isla...

This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of colourfully dressed friends on board the Calypso clothing store owned boat, Bermuda. ...

This late 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a couple relaxing at the beach on Harbour Island, Bahamas. This is an estate stamped and...

This 1970s urban photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a poodle entering a barber shop on a street in Deauville, Normandy, France. This is an estate sta...

This is an exclusive limited edition black and white giclée print, on 100% cotton Hahnemühle Photo Rag Fine Art matte paper. This series of black and white photographs captures the ...

Lily Safra, the "Gilded Lily": Brazilian-Monegasque of of Russian Jewish heritage, enigmatic philanthropist, socialite, and wife of Lebanese born banker Edm...

Pico Garcez (b.1963, São Paulo, Brazil) In Love with Photography, Iconography and Painting, exercises his gaze from childhood when he began to play with his first camera. Practicing ...

This mid-1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features friends boarding a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco, This is an estate stamped and hand n...

A poolside party at Phil Richards' home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, May 1970. Slim Aarons Phil Richards' Pool 1970 Slim Aarons Estate Edition C-type print Certificate of Authentic...

An epic desert landscape photograph of Canyon de Chelly by Rick Canham (American, 20th Century). Titled "There is Purity and Strength Here" lower left. Numbered 54/250 limited edition print. Signed R. Canham lower right. Presented in a giltwood frame. Rick graduated from San Jose State University in 1973 with an BFA in ceramic art, and has been working exclusively with the camera for over forty years. His work has been shown throughout the United States, and much of Europe. His works are a result from a combination of technical competence, forty years of experience, and hard work. Rick has trained himself over the years to see well, and to get to extraordinary places at the right time of day, with the appropriate film for the effects he wants to create. Mr. Canham takes unusual measures to assure a sharp, properly exposed negative...

This early 1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests relaxing by the swimming pool at John Young's villa 'Plantana', Ocho Rios, Jamaic...

Potsdam conference meeting depicting Josef Stalin, Winston Churchill and Harry Truman (not visible) at the conference table, gelatin silver print, date of printing unknown, 16-1/2" x 22-3/4" sheet, date of printing unknown. Provenance: acquired from the estate of photographer Samariy Gurariy...

This early 1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a surfer in the sea at Laguna Beach, California. This is an estate stamped and hand numb...

This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of colourfully dressed friends on board the Calypso clothing store owned boat, Bermuda. ...

This mid-1950s event photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an aerial view of diners at the St. Regis, New York. This is an estate stamped and hand numbe...

This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of colourfully dressed friends on board the Calypso clothing store owned boat, Bermuda. ...

This mid-1980s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests relaxing on the terrace at the villa of Umberto and Pucci Nordio, Portofino This i...

This mid-1980s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests relaxing on the terrace at the villa of Umberto and Pucci Nordio, Portofino This i...

This mid-1980s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests relaxing on the terrace at the villa of Umberto and Pucci Nordio, Portofino This i...

This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a crew member tending to the rigging on a yacht in Lyford Cay, Bahamas. This is an estate...

This early 1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of t...

This early 1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of t...

This 1970s urban photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a poodle entering a barber shop on a street in Deauville, Normandy, France. This is an estate sta...

This mid-1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of Friends boarding a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco. This is an estate stamped...

This 1970s urban photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a poodle entering a barber shop on a street in Deauville, Normandy, France. This is an estate sta...

This mid-1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of Friends boarding a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco. This is an estate stamped...

This early 1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of t...

This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a woman sitting at the edge of a swimming pool in Kenya, December 1958. This is an estate...

Photo portrait of a woman by Arnulf Rabl (German-American, 1942-2016). In this soft portrait, the woman has her head turned slightly down, with closed eyes. There is light striking t...

This early 1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests relaxing by the swimming pool at John Young's villa 'Plantana', Ocho Rios, Jamaic...

Italian fashion designer, model and socialite, Marta Marzotto (1931 - 2016), playing a James Brown album on an Italian Brionvega Radiofonograph RR126 stereo system, Porto Ercole, Tus...

Indian Baskets - Set of 3 photographs A set of three beautiful sepia tone photographs of Indian baskets by Nancy Maynard (American, 20th Century)...

This mid-1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Sarah Marson Williams enjoying a cocktail on the beach at the Hilton Hotel, Needhams Point,...

This early 1990s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Olive Watson (left) taking her friends out sailing off the coast of Maine on her yacht, P...