Slim AaronsEsther Williams Estate Ed. Photograph (Swimmer, TV Actress, Olympic Commentator)1956
1956
About the Item
- Creator:Slim Aarons (1916-2006, American)
- Creation Year:1956
- Dimensions:Height: 24 in (60.96 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Framing:Framing Options Available
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1488470902
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.
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- Slim Aarons 'Venice Gondolas', Estate EditionBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CAGondolas moored in Venice, 1957. In the background is the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, on San Giorgio Maggiore island. Captured with the exquisite clarity and charm that epitomiz...Category
1950s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Poolside Backgammon, Estate Edition, 1970s Acapulco, Villa Nirvana Las BrisasBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CAGuests 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 Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Roca Llisa, Ibiza, Spain, Estate EditionBy Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CAFosca, Vera, and Fiona Bertran holidaying in Roca Llisa, on the island of Ibiza, Spain, 1978. Slim Aarons Roca Llisa Chromogenic Lambda print Slim Aarons Estate Edition of 150 Embossed and hand-numbered with two certificates of authority Printed Later 6 sizes available Over the course of a career lasting half a century, Slim Aarons (1916-2006) portrayed high society, aristocracy, authors, artists, business icons, the celebrated and their milieu. In doing so, he captured a golden age of wealth, privilege, beauty and leisure that occurred alongside—but quite separate from—the cultural and political backdrop of the second half of the Twentieth Century. The Slim Aarons Estate has released the limited Estate edition as a Lambda print, which is a modern c-type print. They have chosen Lambda prints for their sharpness, clarity, colour saturation and quality, compared to archival inkjet prints. Lambda printing gives a true continuous tone. Photograph is unframed. Slideshow includes a close-up of the Slim Aarons estate's stamp. Collector will get the next number in the edition. Slim Aarons was born and raised in New York City and New Jersey and later New Hampshire. He took up photography as a teenager. At the age of eighteen, he enlisted in the U. S. Army and was later appointed official photographer at the United States...Category
1970s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Monocled Miss, Estate Edition (German model Renata Boeck in 1960s New York)By Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CAGerman fashion model Renata Boeck (wearing a monocle) enjoying breakfast in bed at the Regency Hotel in New York, 1964. She is wearing a black monocle and a fur-lined turquoise robe as she reads the morning paper, propped up against sumptuous yellow pillows. Morning light pours through the sheer curtains...Category
1960s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Slim Aarons 'Monocled Miss' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CARenata Boeck enjoying breakfast in bed at the Regency Hotel in New York, 1964. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Slim Aarons Monocled...Category
1960s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- The Klosters, Estate Edition (Snowscape, Hotel Chesa Grischuna, Switzerland)By Slim AaronsLocated in Los Angeles, CASkiers pass by the Hotel Chesa Grischuna in Klosters, Switzerland, 1963. Slim Aarons The Klosters Chromogenic Lambda print Slim Aarons Estate Edition ...Category
1960s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Sundowners at the Carlton, CannesBy Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYTwo bikini-clad holidaymakers enjoy a glass of wine outside the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, 1958. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from th...Category
1950s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Bohemia's Barracks (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYArtistic denizens gather in the lobby of the Chelsea Hotel on W. 23rd Street, Manhattan, New York City, 1968. Clockwise from left, Photographer Sandra Daley, architect Nicholas Quenn...Category
1960s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Faithful Couple (Aarons Estate Edition)By Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYCaption:August 1968: Singer Marianne Faithfull and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones stand in front of a gilt framed portrait in Castletown Mansion, Eire. Estate stamped and hand nu...Category
1960s Realist Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Poolside Pairs 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 produced to order. Lead times are expected between 15-20 days. Currency fluctuations may cause the price to change. This is a contemporary print from the Getty Archive using Slim Aarons negatives. Please contact the gallery for information about other print sizes. All prints feature a Slim Aarons blindstamp, and are accompanied by a Slim Aarons Certificate of Authentication issued by Getty. 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Premium Collection Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. Please note that as part of the Estate's Premium Collection, the price of this Stamped image will increase by 15% once it reaches edition 75/150, by a further 30% from edition 100/150, and a further 45% from edition 145/150. "Poolside...Category
20th Century American Modern Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda
- Keep Your Cool 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 Portrait Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper, Color, Lambda, C Print
- Lake Tahoe Trip 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 Portrait Photography
MaterialsLambda, Photographic Paper, Color
