Slim AaronsSlim Aarons, Californian Cocktail Party (Audrey Hepburn)1955
1955
About the Item
- Creator:Slim Aarons (1916-2006, American)
- Creation Year:1955
- Dimensions:Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)Width: 12 in (30.48 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3265260202
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, 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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Sunbathers at Eden Roc (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYSunbathers at Eden Roc, 1969 Chromogenic lambda print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing attract...Category
1960s American Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Hepburn and Friends (Slim Aarons Estate Print)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYHepburn and Friends, 1955 Chromogenic Lambda print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Belgian born actress Audrey Hep...Category
1950s American Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Clifftop Pool (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYGuests around the clifftop pool at Warren Avis' villa 'La Barranca', Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, January 1971 Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of a...Category
1970s American Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Slim Aarons, Polo PartyBy Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYPaul Butler, patriarch of one of America's foremost polo families, with his son, daughter, grandchildren and son-in-law, Palm Beach, April 1981. Left to right: Adam Butler, Reutie Bu...Category
1980s American Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Bettina Graziani (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYSlim Aarons Bettina Graziani, 1964 Chromogenic Lambda print Glamorous French fashion model Bettina Graziani (Simone Micheline Bodin) (1925 - 2015...Category
1960s American Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Young Society (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYThe young matrons of Palm Beach wearing designs by Lilly Pulitzer. Wendy Vanderbilt (sitting) is wearing a yellow dress and pink headscarf, Palm Beach, Florida, USA, 1964. Estate st...Category
1960s American Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Spot the Ball by Slim AaronsBy Slim AaronsLocated in Brighton, GBFor a limited time only these Slim Aarons prints are available to purchase at 15% discount. Please contact the gallery for any queries. Please bear in mind that all prints are produ...Category
20th Century American Modern Figurative Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper, Color, Lambda, C Print
- Cotton Bay, Bahamas by Slim AaronsBy Slim AaronsLocated in Brighton, GBPlease bear in mind that all prints are produced to order. Lead times are expected between 15-20 days. Currency fluctuations may cause the price to change. This is a contemporary pr...Category
20th Century American Modern Figurative Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper, Color, Lambda, C Print
- Decking by the Sea by Slim AaronsBy Slim AaronsLocated in Brighton, GBFor a limited time only these Slim Aarons prints are available to purchase at 15% discount. Please contact the gallery for any queries. Please bear in mind that all prints are produ...Category
20th Century American Modern Figurative Photography
MaterialsC Print, Lambda, Color, Photographic Paper
- Poolside Host by Slim AaronsBy Slim AaronsLocated in Brighton, GBFor a limited time only these Slim Aarons prints are available to purchase at 15% discount. Please contact the gallery for any queries. Please bear in mind that all prints are produ...Category
20th Century American Modern Color Photography
MaterialsLambda, Photographic Paper, Color, C Print
- Palm Trees Turn Purple - Miami BeachBy Robert FunkLocated in Miami, FLTrees Turn Purple - Miami Beach Shot with a Hi-res 36 megapixel camera which yields beautiful detail. The true color is most accurate in the 1st image when you expand it to the lar...Category
2010s American Modern Figurative Photography
MaterialsInkjet
- High in the City ( Blowing Smoke and Vaping Upper East Side )By Mitchell FunkLocated in Miami, FLSigned, dated, numbered lower right, recto. Edition 3 of 15, Unframed. Other size available Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper Mitchell Funk is a different type of street photogr...Category
2010s American Modern Color Photography
MaterialsInkjet, Photographic Paper