Slim AaronsLeisure in Antibes1969
1969
About the Item
- Creator:Slim Aarons (1916-2006, American)
- Creation Year:1969
- Dimensions:Height: 24 in (60.96 cm)Width: 20 in (50.8 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU291331083
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: New York, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Collapse in a GardenBy David LaChapelleLocated in New York, NYSigned by the photographer.Category
1990s Photography
MaterialsC Print
- Catherine WilkeBy Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYCatherine Wilke, 1980: Catherine Wilke joins the topless sunbathers on the island of Capri, Italy. Staley-Wise Gallery offers photographic prints from...Category
1980s Photography
MaterialsC Print
- To Any LengthsBy Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYTo Any Lengths, 1954: Slim Aarons photographing Mara Lane from the top of an extending ladder by the swimming pool at Sands Hotel, Las Vegas. Staley-Wise Gallery offers photographic...Category
1950s Color Photography
MaterialsC Print
- Mara Lane At The SandsBy Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYMara Lane At The Sands, 1954: Austrian actress Mara Lane lounging by the pool in a red and white striped bathing costume, Las Vegas. Staley-Wis...Category
1950s Photography
MaterialsC Print
- Dip For Dolores, 1952: Dolores Del Rio swimming in Acapulco, MexicoBy Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYStaley-Wise Gallery offers photographic prints from the Slim Aarons Archive, owned and house by Getty Images Archive in London. All photographs are printed and authorized by the Gett...Category
1950s Color Photography
MaterialsC Print
- The Good LifeBy Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYThe Good Life, 1955: C.Z. Guest and her son Alexander and dog at the pool at their home Villa Artemis in Palm Beach Staley-Wise Gallery offers photograp...Category
1950s Color Photography
MaterialsC Print
- Coal Tit by Mark Harvey 30" x 30" C-type Photograph Print OnlyLocated in Coltishall, GBCoal Tit is part of the In Flight collection, a series of portraits of the wild birds taken in the gardens of Mark Harvey's home in Norfolk, England. At a me...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsC Print, Photographic Paper
- Spring Blue Tit by Mark Harvey 30" x 30" C-type Photographic Print OnlyLocated in Coltishall, GBTaken at the beginning of the breeding season in March, this male Blue Tit is showing off his pristine breeding plumage. Spring Blue Tit is part of the In Flight collection, a serie...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsC Print, Photographic Paper
- Greenfinch by Mark Harvey 30" x 30" C-type Photographic Print OnlyLocated in Coltishall, GBThe greenfinch is an infrequent visitor to my garden, but with their glorious colours and strong, rounded shapes they are a sight to behold. The fan-like shape of the wings frames th...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsC Print, Photographic Paper
- 10525 - Stranger than Paradise, 125x125cm each - Polaroid, 20th Century, ColorBy Stefanie SchneiderLocated in Morongo Valley, CA'10525 (Stranger than Paradise) 1999, 5 pieces, each 128x125 cm plus 10 cm in between each print together 128x640cm, Sold out Edition of 3. Artist Proof 1 of 2, analog C-Prints, pr...Category
1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsArchival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid
- Jersey Views (Stay) - 21st Century, Contemporary, PolaroidBy Stefanie SchneiderLocated in Morongo Valley, CAJersey Views (Stay) - 2006 Edition of 10, 10 pieces 98x96cm each, installed 210x555cm. 10 archival C-Prints, based on 10 Polaroids. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Inven...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Landscape Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid, Archival Paper
- Dark Materials VI by James Sparshatt. C-type Print with acrylic face mountBy James SparshattLocated in Coltishall, GBThere is a something about being a child on the beach where the sheer exuberance of running into the waves transcends the normal social barriers, and the shared exhilarance allows fo...Category
Early 2000s Abstract Prints and Multiples
MaterialsMetal
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Who Are the Most Popular Artists on 1stdibs?
Learn the stories of some of the world's most recognizable artworks and their makers.
Kali Is an Art World Sensation, 40 Years after She Hid Her Work Away
A newly discovered trove of her kaleidoscopic works reveals that the enigmatic artist captured the zeitgeist of 1960s Southern California.