Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
American, 1916-2006
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.
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Orientation: Horizontal
Artist: Slim Aarons
Abercorns On Windermere
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
James and Alexandra Hamilton, the 5th Duke and Duchess of Abercorn holiday on Windermere Island in the Bahamas, with their children Sophia and James, April 1980.
40 x 60 inches
$395...
Category
1980s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Acapulco Lunch
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A long afternoon lunch at Acapulco. Among the guest are (from left to right) film star Douglas Fairbanks Junior (1909 - 2000), couturiers Oscar de la Renta, and standing behind him E...
Category
1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Villa Vera
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The bar at the Villa Vera Hotel Spa and Racquet Club in Acapulco, January 1968.
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1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
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C Print
Villa Vera
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The bar at the Villa Vera Hotel Spa and Racquet Club in Acapulco, January 1968.
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1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
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C Print
Swimmers At Las Brisas
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests in the pool at the Las Brisas Hotel, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972.
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1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
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C Print
Swimmers At Las Brisas
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests in the pool at the Las Brisas Hotel, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972.
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1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
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C Print
Arturo Pani's Villa
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The swimming pool at Arturo Pani's villa, Acapulco, Mexico, January 1968.
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1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
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C Print
Arturo Pani's Villa
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The swimming pool at Arturo Pani's villa, Acapulco, Mexico, January 1968.
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1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
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C Print
La Concha Beach Club
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A view of La Concha Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972.
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1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
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C Print
La Concha Beach Club
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A view of La Concha Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972.
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1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
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C Print
Villa Nirvana
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972.
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Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
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C Print
Villa Nirvana
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972.
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Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
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C Print
Tres Vidas, Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests relax in the shade at the Tres Vidas private members club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975.
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1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Tres Vidas, Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests relax in the shade at the Tres Vidas private members club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975.
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Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Leonard Dalsemer
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Leonard Dalsemer and his family at their villa in Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974.
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1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Tres Vidas, Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests enjoy cocktails at the pool bar of the Tres Vidas private members club in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975
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1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Tres Vidas, Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests enjoy cocktails at the pool bar of the Tres Vidas private members club in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975
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Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Tres Vidas, Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests enjoy cocktails at the pool bar of the Tres Vidas private members club in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975
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Undercurre...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Tres Vidas, Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests enjoy cocktails at the pool bar of the Tres Vidas private members club in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975
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Undercurre...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
La Concha Clientele
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the La Concha Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972.
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Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Lunch At Merle's
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
English actress Merle Oberon (1911 - 1979, second from right) and lunch guests at her villa, La Consentida, Acapulco, 1966.
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...
Category
1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Lunch At Merle's
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
English actress Merle Oberon (1911 - 1979, second from right) and lunch guests at her villa, La Consentida, Acapulco, 1966.
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...
Category
1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Las Brisas
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The coastline near Warren Avis' villa in Las Brisas, Acapulco, January 1978.
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1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Lunch At Merle's
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
English actress Merle Oberon (1911 - 1979, second from right) and lunch guests at her villa, La Consentida, Acapulco, 1966.
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...
Category
1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Las Brisas
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The coastline near Warren Avis' villa in Las Brisas, Acapulco, January 1978.
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Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this v...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Habitation Leclerc
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Bathers walking down steps to the swimming pool at Habitation Leclerc, Haiti, January 1975. They are followed by a waiter with cocktails.
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Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Oberon's Lunch
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1966: Film star Merle Oberon (1911 - 1979) and lunch guests at her villa, La Consentida, Acapulco. The star is second from the right facing the camera. A Wonderful Time - Slim ...
Category
1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Oberon's Lunch
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1966: Film star Merle Oberon (1911 - 1979) and lunch guests at her villa, La Consentida, Acapulco. The star is second from the right facing the camera. A Wonderful Time - Slim ...
Category
1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Oberon's Lunch
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1966: Film star Merle Oberon (1911 - 1979) and lunch guests at her villa, La Consentida, Acapulco. The star is second from the right facing the camera. A Wonderful Time - Slim ...
Category
1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Armando's Beach Club
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Sunbathers at Armando's Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975.
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Undercurrent Projects is pro...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Armando's Beach Club
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Sunbathers at Armando's Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975.
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1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Armando's Beach Club
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Sunbathers at Armando's Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975.
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Undercurrent Projects is pro...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Villa Vera
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The bar at the Villa Vera Hotel Spa and Racquet Club in Acapulco, January 1968.
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Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer thi...
Category
1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Villa Vera
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The bar at the Villa Vera Hotel Spa and Racquet Club in Acapulco, January 1968.
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Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer thi...
Category
1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Villa Vera
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The bar at the Villa Vera Hotel Spa and Racquet Club in Acapulco, January 1968.
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Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer thi...
Category
1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Down To The Pool
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A group of women going down the the steps to the pool at Warren Avis' villa, 'La Barranca' at Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, April 1979.
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Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Down To The Pool
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A group of women going down the the steps to the pool at Warren Avis' villa, 'La Barranca' at Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, April 1979.
Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer,...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Nirvana Quartet
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Oscar Obregon Salazar Gomez Velez Guzman y Murphy (centre, left) with Karen Murphy, Robin Goodland and Melissa Engelhardt at the Villa Nirvana hotel, Acapulco, Mexico, 1986.
Compli...
Category
1980s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Racquet Club Pool
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Swiss bandleader and restaurateur Teddy Stauffer (1909 - 1991) with Dorothy Webb and Mrs Charles Rogers in the pool at the Villa Vera Spa & Racquet Club p...
Category
1960s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
C Print
Acapulco Pool
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Architect Arturo Pani and his wife by their swimming pool at home in Acapulco, Mexico.
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1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
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Lambda
By The Pool In Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A tanned man surrounded by young women in bikinis by the pool at Warren Avis's villa in Acapulco, Mexico, January 1978.
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Un...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
By The Pool In Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A tanned man surrounded by young women in bikinis by the pool at Warren Avis's villa in Acapulco, Mexico, January 1978.
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Un...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Poolside Backgammon, Estate Edition, 1970s Acapulco, Villa Nirvana Las Brisas
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests playing a game of poolside backgammon at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, 1972.
Poolside Backgammon
Villa Nirvana, Las Brisas, Acap...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Bad Luck Gloria
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actor Jose Ferrer (1912 - 1992) commiserates with Gloria Swanson after losing out in the contest for the Best Actress Oscar, while the winner, Judy Holliday, sits proudly wi...
Category
1950s American Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Bad Luck Gloria
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actor Jose Ferrer (1912 - 1992) commiserates with Gloria Swanson after losing out in the contest for the Best Actress Oscar, while the winner, Judy Holliday, sits proudly wi...
Category
1950s American Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Bad Luck Gloria
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actor Jose Ferrer (1912 - 1992) commiserates with Gloria Swanson after losing out in the contest for the Best Actress Oscar, while the winner, Judy Holliday, sits proudly wi...
Category
1950s American Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Taylor, Todd And Family
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A contact strip depicting British-born American actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932 - 2011) at an airfield, (possibly Croydon Airport, London) with her third husband, American producer Mi...
Category
1950s American Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Taylor, Todd And Family
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A contact strip depicting British-born American actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932 - 2011) at an airfield, (possibly Croydon Airport, London) with her third husband, American producer Mi...
Category
1950s American Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Taylor, Todd And Family
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A contact strip depicting British-born American actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932 - 2011) at an airfield, (possibly Croydon Airport, London) with her third husband, American producer Mi...
Category
1950s American Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Palm Bay Club
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A young woman at the Palm Bay Club, Miami, Florida, USA, circa 1965
Slim Aarons
Palm Bay Club
Black and White Photography
Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Num...
Category
1960s American Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Port Life, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A man stops to watch a young woman tie her sandals on the pavement in Portofino marina, August 1977.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and s...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Beach At Positano, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Aerial view looking down on sunbathers and parasols on the beach at Positano, Italy, 1979. The view looks north along the coastline.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Auth...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Beach At Positano, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Aerial view looking down on sunbathers and parasols on the beach at Positano, Italy, 1979. The view looks north along the coastline.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Auth...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Portofino Harbour, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The harbour in the Ligurian town of Portofino, August 1977.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate
Collecto...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Portofino Harbour, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The harbour in the Ligurian town of Portofino, August 1977.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate
Collecto...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Home Waters, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
June 1983: Dress designer Gianni Versace (1946 - 1997) and Lalla Spagnol on a motor launch in front of his 17th century villa on Lake Como.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate ...
Category
1980s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Home Waters, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
June 1983: Dress designer Gianni Versace (1946 - 1997) and Lalla Spagnol on a motor launch in front of his 17th century villa on Lake Como.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate ...
Category
1980s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Ardizzone's House, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Overlooking Ardizzone's House, on the water's edge in Portofino, Italy, July 1985.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim...
Category
1980s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Hotel Il San Pietro, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Hotel Il San Pietro in Positano, Italy, August 1979.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stampe...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Hotel Il San Pietro, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Hotel Il San Pietro in Positano, Italy, August 1979.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stampe...
Category
1970s Realist Slim Aarons Portrait Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons portrait photography for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Slim Aarons portrait photography available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of portrait photography to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue, purple, pink and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Slim Aarons in digital print, lambda print, laser print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Slim Aarons portrait photography, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Mark Shaw, Bob Willoughby, and Mark Beard. Slim Aarons portrait photography prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $960 and tops out at $35,000, while the average work can sell for $3,000.