Marina Piccola 1954 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Marina Piccola 1954 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Canzone del Mare at the Marina Piccola, Capri, Italy, 1954. 60 x 40" inches / 152 x 101 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection E...
Archival Pigment
Portofino Villa 1977 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Portofino Villa 1977 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Guests by the pool at Klaus Pudel’s villa, the Casa Montefino, overlooking Portofino harbour, Portofino, Italy, August 1977. 20 x ...
Archival Pigment
Posing By The Pool 1968 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Posing By The Pool 1968 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida, 1968. 16 x 20" inches / 41 x 51 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 15...
Archival Pigment
Positano 1958- Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Positano 1958- Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A little boy carries a basket of groceries home in Positano, 1958 30 x 30" inches / 76 x 76 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edit...
Archival Pigment
Riviera Crowd 1957 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Riviera Crowd 1957 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Holidaymakers enjoying lunch by a pool on the French Riviera, 1957. 40 x 60" inches / 101 x 152 cm paper size Estate Stamped Colle...
Archival Pigment
Racing At Baden Baden 1978 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Racing At Baden Baden 1978 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Spectators dine in the open air as the horses go by at Baden Baden racecourse, Germany, September 1978. 40 x 60" inches / 10...
Archival Pigment
Saint-Tropez 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Saint-Tropez 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Cars and pedestrians on the busy seafront at Saint-Tropez, in southeastern France, September 1970. 24 x 20" inches / 61 x 51 cm paper...
Archival Pigment
Princess Bianca 1985 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Princess Bianca 1985 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Princess Bianca Hanau-Schaumburg at her Gstaad chalet, 1985. 40 x 60" inches / 101 x 152 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection...
Archival Pigment
Roca Llisa 1978 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Roca Llisa 1978 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Fosca, Vera and Fiona Bertran holidaying in Roca Llisa, on the island of Ibiza, Spain 1978 16 x 20" inches / 41 x 51 cm paper size Es...
Archival Pigment
Saint-Tropez Seafront 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Saint-Tropez Seafront 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped The seafront in Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera, September 1970 60 x 40" inches / 152 x 101 cm paper size Estate Stamp...
Archival Pigment
Saint-Tropez Swimmer 1971 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Saint-Tropez Swimmer 1971 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A topless swimmer in Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera, August 1971 60 x 40" inches / 152 x 101 cm paper size Estate Stam...
Archival Pigment
Relaxing At The Club 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Relaxing At The Club 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Members sunbathe around the pool at Palm Springs Tennis Club, California, circa 1970. 40 x 30" inches / 101 x 76 cm paper siz...
Archival Pigment
Saint-Tropez 1971 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Saint-Tropez 1971 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Two young women, one wearing a kaftan, stepping onto a yacht on the waterfront at Saint-Tropez, France, August 1971. 30 x 20" inches ...
Archival Pigment
Princess Pia 1980 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Princess Pia 1980 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Princess Pia Ruspoli laying on a lounger by a swimming pool on the island of Capri, Italy, in August 1980. 24 x 20" inches / 61 x 51 ...
Archival Pigment
San Diego Gulls 1956 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
San Diego Gulls 1956 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Seagulls over a beach in San Diego, California, October 1956 16 x 16" inches / 41 x 41 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection E...
Archival Pigment
$4,200
Private Island, Philippines 1973 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
., Philippines, February 1973. 30 x 40" inches / 76 x 101 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aarons Printed in 2025 Limited to 150 prints onl...
Archival Pigment
Race Day Lunch 1963 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Race Day Lunch 1963 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped The Bahamas Speed Week in Nassau, 1963. 30 x 40" inches / 76 x 101 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo...
Archival Pigment
Saint Kitts and Nevis 1984 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Saint Kitts and Nevis 1984 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Horseback riding at the Rawlins Plantation inn, Saint Kitts and Nevis, West Indies, March 1984 16 x 20" inches / 41 x 51 cm ...
Archival Pigment
San Diego Home 1956 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
San Diego Home 1956 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A woman in a day dress in the sitting room of a house in San Diego, California, October 1956. 40 x 40" inches / 101 x 101 cm paper...
Archival Pigment
Skiers at Gstaad 1969 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Skiers at Gstaad 1969 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Skiers on the slopes at the Sugarbush Resort, Vermont, USA, April 1960. 20 x 24" inches / 51 x 61 cm paper size Estate Stamped ...
Archival Pigment
Skaal House In Stowe 1962 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
A pair of skis leaning against the wall beside the door 20 x 20" inches / 51 x 51 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aarons Printed in 2025 L...
Archival Pigment
Skiers In St. Moritz 1963 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Moritz 1963 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Skiers in St Moritz, Switzerland, March 1963. 30 x 20" inches / 61 x 51 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by...
Archival Pigment
Courchevel 1979 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Courchevel 1979 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped The ski resort of Courchevel, in the French Alps, 1979 16 x 20" inches / 41 x 51 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 1...
Archival Pigment
Skiers At Gstaad 1969 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Skiers At Gstaad 1969 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Skiers at Gstaad, Switzerland, 1969. 16 x 20" inches / 41 x 51 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo b...
Archival Pigment
Skiers in St Moritz 1963 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Skiers in St Moritz 1963 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Skiers in St Moritz, Switzerland, March 1963. 60 x 40" inches / 152 x 101 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to...
Archival Pigment
Skiers In Gstaad 1961 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Skiers In Gstaad 1961 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Skiers at Gstaad, Switzerland, March 1961. 40 x 30" inches / 101 x 76 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 ...
Archival Pigment
Skating Waiter 1978 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Skating Waiter 1978 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A skating cocktail waiter at the Palace Hotel in St Moritz, Switzerland, March 1978 30 x 20" inches / 61 x 51 cm paper size Estat...
Archival Pigment
Bermuda Paradise 1967 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Bermuda Paradise 1967 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Holidaymakers relaxing on a beach in Bermuda, 1967. 60 x 40" inches / 152 x 102 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition...
Archival Pigment
Birds Eye Monte Carlo 1981 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Birds Eye Monte Carlo 1981 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped An aerial view of the beach at Monte Carlo, with skyscrapers rising behind, August 1981. 12 x 16" inches / 30 x 41 cm paper ...
Archival Pigment
Poolside Interruptions 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Kaufmann. 16 x 20" inches / 41 x 51 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aarons Printed in 2025 Limited to 150 prints only (regardless of paper...
Archival Pigment
Daniel Gainey 1973 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Daniel Gainey 1973 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Winemaker Daniel Gainey and his wife out riding at their ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona, January 1973. 20 x 24" inches / 51 x 61 cm pa...
Archival Pigment
Poolside Fashions 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Kaufmann. 20 x 16" inches / 51 x 41 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aarons Printed in 2025 Limited to 150 prints only (regardless of pape...
Archival Pigment
Deck Dwellers 1967 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Deck Dwellers 1967 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped General view looking down on sunbathers on the deck of the yacht ‘Traveler II’, off the coast of Exuma in the Bahamas, April 1967. 3...
Archival Pigment
Dimitris Kritsas 1961 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Dimitris Kritsas 1961 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Dimitris Kritsas, a fashionable young couturier, poses among the gleaming Doric columns of the temple to Poseidon at Sounion, circ...
Archival Pigment
CZ’s Dogs 1955 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
CZ’s Dogs 1955 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Mrs F C Winston Guest (1920 – 2003) (aka Cee Zee Guest) with her dogs in front of the Grecian temple pool on her ocean-front estate, Vill...
Archival Pigment
Decking By The Sea 1988 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Decking By The Sea 1988 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped People sunbathing on a deck overlooking the sea at Angra dos Reis, Brazil, January 1988 12 x 16" inches / 30 x 41 cm paper size...
Archival Pigment
Poolside Promenade 1961 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Poolside Promenade 1961 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A fashion show at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, 1961 12 x 12" inches / 30 x 30 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collec...
Archival Pigment
At The Linsk House 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Kaufmann 30 x 20" inches / 76 x 51 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aarons Printed in 2025 Limited to 150 prints only (regardless of paper ...
Archival Pigment
Capri Tan 1968 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Capri Tan 1968 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped 1968, A kneeling sunbather shows off her rings and pendant on a beach in Capri, Italy. 30 x 20" inches / 76 x 51 cm paper size Estate ...
Archival Pigment
Capri Cruise 1958 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Capri Cruise 1958 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Princess Laudomia Hercolani (in blue) and friends enjoy an on-deck siesta whilst cruising near Capri, July 1958. 20 x 24" inches / 51...
Archival Pigment
Cushing Home 1966 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Cushing Home 1966 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Members of the Cushing family outside their home, ‘The Ledges’ in Newport, June 1966. 10 x 10" inches / 25 x 25 cm paper size Estat...
Archival Pigment
Count And Countess Jaime De Mora Y Aragon 1980 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Count And Countess Jaime De Mora Y Aragon 1980 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Count and Countess (nee Margit Ohlson) Jaime de Mora y Aragon with their dogs at their farm near Marbella...
Archival Pigment
Cortina d’Ampezzo 1988 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Cortina d’Ampezzo 1988 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Snowboarding in Cortina d’Ampezzo, March 1988 30 x 40" inches / 76 x 102 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 15...
Archival Pigment
Connelly And Guest 1955 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Connelly And Guest 1955 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped American socialite Cee Zee Guest (1920 – 2003, left) with Joanne Connelly in Palm Beach, Florida, circa 1955. 30 x 30" inches /...
Archival Pigment
Cortina D’Ampezzo 1962 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Cortina D’Ampezzo 1962 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Skiers walk up a mountain in Cortina D’Ampezzo, a ski resort in northern Italy, 1962 48 x 72" inches / 122 x 183 cm paper size ...
Archival Pigment
Curacao Children 1979 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Curacao Children 1979 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Three local children sitting on a low wall, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, January 1979 12 x 16" inches / 30 x 41 cm paper size ...
Archival Pigment
Cotton Bay 1982 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Cotton Bay 1982 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped The Campbells’ pool at Cotton Bay, on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas, November 1982 20 x 24" inches / 51 x 61 cm paper size Estate S...
Archival Pigment
Culinary Heights 1978 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Culinary Heights 1978 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Courchevel restaurant chefs Jean Jacob (left) of ‘Le Bateau Ivre’, Michel Rochedy (centre) of ‘Le Chabichou’, and Albert Parveaux ...
Archival Pigment
Ice Bar 1979 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Ice Bar 1979 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped The ski resort of Courchevel, in the French Alps, 1979. 60 x 40" inches / 152 x 102 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 1...
Archival Pigment
Crespi And Mastroianni 1968 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Crespi And Mastroianni 1968 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Italian countess Consuelo Crespi (left, 1928-2010) and Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni (right, 19241996) in conversation...
Archival Pigment
Conca dei Marini 1984 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Conca dei Marini 1984 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A quiet bay in Conca dei Marini, on the Amalfi coast in Italy, August 1984 40 x 30" inches / 102 x 76 cm paper size Estate Stam...
Archival Pigment
Costa Smeralda, Sardinia 1978 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Costa Smeralda, Sardinia 1978 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Sailboats on the waters of the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, Italy, in September 1978 40 x 60" inches / 102 x 152 cm paper ...
Archival Pigment
Curling At St. Moritz 1963 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Moritz 1963 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Curlers on a rink, or curling sheet, in St Moritz, Switzerland, March 1963. 20 x 16" inches / 51 x 41 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collec...
Archival Pigment
Cortina d’Ampezzo 1962 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Cortina d’Ampezzo 1962 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A chairlift up the mountain in Cortina d’Ampezzo, February 1962 20 x 24" inches / 51 x 61 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collect...
Archival Pigment
Colourful Crew 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Colourful Crew 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A group of colourfully dressed holidaymakers on a yacht, Bermuda, June 1970 60 x 40" inches / 152 x 102 cm paper size Estate Stam...
Archival Pigment
Tennis in San Diego 1956 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Tennis in San Diego 1956 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A man and a woman playing tennis on a court surrounded by palm trees, San Diego, California, October 1956. 16 x 16" inches / 4...
Archival Pigment
Swimmers At Las Brisas 1972- Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Swimmers At Las Brisas 1972- Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Guests in the pool at the Las Brisas Hotel, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. 16 x 20" inches / 41 x 51 cm paper size Esta...
Archival Pigment
$3,000
Towboat At Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc 1969 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Towboat At Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc 1969 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A motorboat, used to tow waterskiiers, moored at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on the French Riviera, Augus...
Archival Pigment
Sundowners 1960 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Sundowners 1960 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Two bikini-clad holidaymakers enjoy a glass of wine outside the Carlton Hotel, Cannes. 20 x 20" inches / 51 x 51 cm paper size Estate...
Archival Pigment
$3,600
Swimming Pool On The Beach 1981- Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Swimming Pool On The Beach 1981- Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition The pool at the Meridian Club, owned by Ginny and Bill Cowles, on the Turks and Caicos islands, March 1981 20 x ...
C Print
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.
The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.
Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.
The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.
Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.
Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.
Color photography evokes emotion that can bring a viewer into the scene. It can transport one to faraway places or back into the past.
The first color photograph, taken in 1861, was more of an exercise in science than art. Photographer Thomas Sutton and physicist James Clerk Maxwell used three separate exposures of a tartan ribbon — filtered through red, green and blue — and composited them into a single image, resulting in the first multicolor representation of an object.
Before this innovation, photographs were often tinted by hand. By the 1890s, color photography processes were introduced based on that 1860s experiment. In the early 20th century, autochromes brought color photography to a commercial audience.
Now color photography is widely available, with these historic photographs documenting moments and scenes that are still vivid generations later. Photographers in the 20th and 21st centuries have offered new perspectives in the evolving field of modern color photography with gripping portraiture, snow-capped landscapes, stunning architecture and lots more.
In the voluminous collection of photography on 1stDibs, find vibrant full-color images by Slim Aarons, Helen Levitt, Gordon Parks, Stefanie Schneider, Steve McCurry and other artists. Bring visual interest to any corner of your home with color photography — introduce a salon-style gallery hang or another arrangement that best fits your space.