Slim AaronsIconic Aarons Estate Photograph of Surrealist Salvador Dali: 'Take It'1970
1970
About the Item
- Creator:Slim Aarons (1916-2006, American)
- Creation Year:1970
- Dimensions:Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 10 in (25.4 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Framing:Framing Options Available
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU14811263532
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, 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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Los Angeles, CA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Alice In Acapulco, Slim Aarons Estate EditionBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CAAlice Topping and Minnie Cushing (left) relax with friends in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1966. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certifi...Category
1960s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Domingo In Salzburg, Slim Aarons Estate EditionBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CASpanish tenor Placido Domingo in the back of a car at Mozartplatz in Salzburg, in front of the Mozart memorial, August 1981. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity ...Category
1980s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Domingo In Salzburg, Slim Aarons Estate EditionBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CASpanish tenor Placido Domingo in the back of a car at Mozartplatz in Salzburg, in front of the Mozart memorial, August 1981. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity ...Category
1980s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Rhode Island Surfers, Slim Aarons Estate EditionBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CASurfers off Rhode Island, September 1965. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aaron...Category
1960s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Laguna Beach Surfers, Slim Aarons Estate EditionBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CAA surfer in the sea at Laguna Beach, California, January 1970. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Nu...Category
1970s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Rhode Island Surfer, Slim Aarons Estate EditionBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CAA surfer carrying his board at a Rhode Island beach, September 1965. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered an...Category
1960s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Slim Aarons 'Madame Jean Serpieri'By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYMadame Jean Serpieri sits in the ballroom of the Tour La Reine near Athens, wearing a gown which belonged to the wife of Otto, the first king of m...Category
1960s Realist Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Joan Collins Relaxes (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYFilm star Joan Collins relaxes with her pink poodle on her pink bed. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenti...Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Princess RuspoliBy Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYPrincess Lucy Ruspoli stands in front of a colourful wall of old skis in Lech am Arlberg, Austria, February 1979. Slim Aarons worked mainly for society publ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Princess Caroline of Monaco (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYPrincess Caroline of Monaco, with her pet dog Tiffany, Monte Carlo 1977. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authent...Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Julie London (Aarons Estate Print)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NY1957: Singer Julie London enjoying breakfast in bed at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of aut...Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Peggy Guggenheim (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYSeptember 1978: Peggy Guggenheim (1898 - 1979) in the Palazzo Venier Dei Leoni, Venice. The palace houses her private art collection, including Picass...Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
MaterialsLambda