1978 - Printed Later
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.
Natale Rusconi, Venice, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Cipriani motor launch with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on San Giorgio Maggiore island beyond, in Venice, Italy, in September 1978. Slim Aarons ...
Lambda
Natale Rusconi, Venice, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Cipriani motor launch with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on San Giorgio Maggiore island beyond, in Venice, Italy, in September 1978. Slim Aarons ...
Lambda
Natale Rusconi, Venice, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Cipriani motor launch with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on San Giorgio Maggiore island beyond, in Venice, Italy, in September 1978. Slim Aarons ...
Lambda
Natale Rusconi, Venice, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Cipriani motor launch with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on San Gio...
Lambda
Natale Rusconi, Venice, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Cipriani motor launch with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on San Gio...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Grand Hotel Excelsior, Venice' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Westin Excelsior Hotel on the Lido in Venice, 1957. Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate. Certificate of Authenticity included. Slim Aarons Grand Hotel Excelsior, Venice Chromogenic Lambda print Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Edition Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 20 x 20 inches $2500 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer. 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 prints. They have chosen Lambda prints for their sharpness, clarity, colour saturation and quality, compared to archival inkjet prints. Lambda printing gives true continuous tone. Photograph is unframed Slide show includes a close-up of the Slim Aarons estate's stamp. Collector will get the next number in the edition * We are pleased to offer the entire archive of the Slim Aarons Estate, offering the official Slim Aarons Estate Edition (only offered in this edition of 150). Please contact us for additional photographs from Slim Aarons * From a recent Vogue article on the photography of Slim Aarons: "Located on the Venice Lido, between the Venetian Lagoon and the Adriatic Sea, the Grand Hotel Excelsior plunges guests into a typically Venetian atmosphere. After mooring on the island, the Virginia creeper-lined palace combines rooms with beautiful views, a pool, and a private beach." # Vintage Venice Lido, Vintage Grand Hotels, Vintage Boating, Vintage Slim Aarons, Vintage Sport Photography, Coastal, Vintage Fifties...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Natale Rusconi in Venice'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Natale Rusconi in Venice 1978 (printed later) C print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 with Certificate of authenticity Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Ciprian...
C Print
Slim Aarons, Natale Rusconi in Venice
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Natale Rusconi in Venice 1978 (printed later) C print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 with Certificate of authenticity Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Ciprian...
C Print
Slim Aarons, Natale Rusconi in Venice
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Natale Rusconi in Venice 1978 (printed later) C print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 with Certificate of authenticity Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Ciprian...
C Print
Slim Aarons, Natale Rusconi in Venice
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Natale Rusconi in Venice 1978 (printed later) C print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 with Certificate of authenticity Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Ciprian...
C Print
'Natale Rusconi' 1978 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Natale Rusconi' Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Cipriani motor launch with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on San Giorgio Maggiore island beyond, in Venice, Italy, in September 1...
Color, Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Natale Rusconi' 1978 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Natale Rusconi' Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Cipriani motor launch with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on San Giorgio Maggiore island beyond, in Venice, Italy, in September 19...
Archival Pigment
