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Slim Aarons Furniture

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, 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.

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Creator: Slim Aarons
A Wonderful Time An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life Vintage Hardcover Book
By Slim Aarons
Located in Oakland Park, FL
A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life vintage hardcover coffee table book From the front flap of this 190 page book: "'A Wonderful Time' captures magnificently the life of America's elite from coast, in Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Acapulco. Drawing from thousands of pictures taken since World War II on assignments for 'Holiday', 'Town & Country', 'Harper's Bazaar', 'Life'. 'Vogue', 'Travel & Leisure', and other publications, Slim Aarons has put together the best of them - many never published before - with a narrative of his experiences and impressions while photographing American aristocrats on their estates and at play at their favorite resorts. Here are the Cushings of Newport, The Fords of Grosse Pointe, and the Rockefellers of New York; here are the kings and queens of Beverly Hills playing croquet, the Cabots sailing off Boston's North Shore, and Barry Goldwarer on the range in Arizona. Here are the Whitneys entertaining on Long Island, the Armours in their pool in Lake Forest, the Klebergs on their Texas ranch. and the scions of Palm Beach, San Francisco, and New York having a wonderful time." And from the rear cover: "'A Wonderful Time' is a book about Snowmass, Tom Watson, Nonie Phipps, Harold Vanderbilt, CeeZee Guest, Commander Whitehead, Lilly Pulitzer, New Orleans, T.S. Eloit, Jamaica, Minnie Cushing, Washington, Damon Gadd, Mrs. Atwater Kent, the Rockefellers, The King Ranch, Merle Oberon, Sugarbush, Cecil Beaton, Scottsdale, Brenda Frazier, Baltimore, Angie Duke, Palm Beach, Eva Gabor, Acapulco, Burl Ives, the Duchess of Windsor, La Jolla, Peter Widener, Babe Paley, Nassau, Roger Lion Gardiner, Mary Hemingway, Stowe, Mike Phipps, Bailey's Beach, Gloria Guinness, The Exumas, Herb Caen, Romanoff's, Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jock Whitney, The Bath and Tennis Club, Mary Martin, Aspen, Truman Capote, Hobe Sound, Cobina Wright, Howard Hughes, The Waldorf, Fleur Cowles...
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1970s North American Modern Vintage Slim Aarons Furniture

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Paper

Wonderful Time, an Intimate Portrait of the Good Life by Slim Aarons, 1st Ed
By Slim Aarons
Located in valatie, NY
"Wonderful Time, An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life by Slim Aarons." New York: Harper & Row, Publishers. Stated first edition hardcover with no dust jacket, 1974. A photo essay do...
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20th Century American Slim Aarons Furniture

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Paper

Mid-Century Modern Framed Photo Danger Banker Signed Slim Aarons Rockefeller
By Slim Aarons
Located in Keego Harbor, MI
For your consideration is a framed photograph, "Danger Banker in Hole, David Rockefeller," signed by Slim Aarons, circa 1955. In excellent condition, 1950s. The dimensions of the fra...
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1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Slim Aarons Furniture

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Paper

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Previously Available Items
Slim Aarons "Take It" Salvador Dali Limited Edition Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Take It, September 1970 With some of his works at Port light, Costa Brava, painter Salvador Dali (1904-1989) in a charismatic pose with his trademark wal...
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Mid-20th Century British Slim Aarons Furniture

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Paper

Slim Aarons "Luxury Dining" Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Luxury Dining Limited Edition Print - number 1 of 150, by photographer Slim Aarons Diners in a grand ballroom during a fashion show, circa 1955. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archi...
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Mid-20th Century British Slim Aarons Furniture

Materials

Paper

  • Slim Aarons "Luxury Dining" Estate Stamped Print
  • Slim Aarons "Luxury Dining" Estate Stamped Print
  • Slim Aarons "Luxury Dining" Estate Stamped Print
  • Slim Aarons "Luxury Dining" Estate Stamped Print
H 25.6 in. W 24.81 in. D 1.19 in.
Wonderful Time, An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life by Slim Aarons, 1st Ed
By Slim Aarons
Located in valatie, NY
"Wonderful Time, An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life by Slim Aarons." New York: Harper & Row, Publishers. Stated first edition hardcover with dust jacket, 1974. A photo essay done ...
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20th Century American Slim Aarons Furniture

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"Poolside with Slim Aarons" Book, First Edition
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Slim Aarons – Poolside with Slim Aarons, Book 2007
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First edition, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 2007. Introduction by William Norwich. In the same vein as Aaron's previous publication, "Once Upon a Time" and &quo...
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"A Wonderful Time" Book by Slim Aarons
By Slim Aarons
Located in valatie, NY
A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life by Slim Aarons. New York: Harper & Row, 1974. First Edition. Hardcover with dust jacket. Slim Aarons was an American photo...
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1970s American Vintage Slim Aarons Furniture

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  • "A Wonderful Time" Book by Slim Aarons
  • "A Wonderful Time" Book by Slim Aarons
  • "A Wonderful Time" Book by Slim Aarons
  • "A Wonderful Time" Book by Slim Aarons
H 13.75 in. W 10.5 in. D 2 in.

Slim Aarons furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Slim Aarons furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of paper and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Slim Aarons furniture, although black editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original furniture by Slim Aarons were created in the modern style in north america during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Sam Haskins, Steve Schapiro, and Barry Kieselstein-Cord. Prices for Slim Aarons furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at £481 and can go as high as £2,249, while a piece like these, on average, fetch £603.

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