Realist art attempts to portray its subject matter without artifice. Similar to naturalism, authentic realist paintings and prints see an integration of true-to-life colors, meticulous detail and linear perspectives for accurate portrayals of the world.
Work that involves illusionistic techniques of realism dates back to the classical world, such as the deceptive trompe l’oeil used since ancient Greece. Art like this became especially popular in the 17th century when Dutch artists like Evert Collier painted objects that appeared real enough to touch. Realism as an artistic movement, however, usually refers to 19th-century French realist artists such as Honoré Daumier exploring social and political issues in biting lithographic prints, while the likes of Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet painting people — particularly the working class — with all their imperfections, navigating everyday urban life. This was a response to the dominant academic art tradition that favored grand paintings of myth and history.
By the turn of the 20th century, European artists, such as the Pre-Raphaelites, were experimenting with nearly photographic realism in their work, as seen in the attention to every botanical attribute of the flowers surrounding the drowned Ophelia painted by English artist John Everett Millais.
Although abstraction was the guiding style of 20th-century art, the realism trend in American modern art endured in Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth and other artists’ depictions of the complexities of the human experience. In the late 1960s, Photorealism emerged with artists like Chuck Close and Richard Estes giving their paintings the precision of a frame of film.
Contemporary artists such as Jordan Casteel, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Aliza Nisenbaum are now using the unvarnished realist approach for honest representations of people and their worlds. Alongside traditional mediums, technology such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and immersive installations are helping artists create new sensations of realism in art.
Find authentic realist paintings, sculptures, prints and more art on 1stDibs.
Villa Nirvana, Acapulco, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico. This is an ...
C Print
Mustique, Grenadines Islands, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Linda Ashland relaxing in a beach hammock on the island of Mustique in the Grenadines. This is an es...
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Lunch At La Pigna, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features US restaurateurs Gilda Cioffi, owner of Mama Gilda in Palm Beach, Guy Avventuiero and his wife, of Gi...
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Ursula Andress, Italy, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Swiss actress Ursula Andress poses in a hammock in Rome, Italy. This is an estate-stamped and hand-num...
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Ursula Andress, Italy, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Swiss actress Ursula Andress poses in a hammock in Rome, Italy. This is an estate-stamped and hand-num...
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Ursula Andress, Italy, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Swiss actress Ursula Andress poses in a hammock in Rome, Italy. This is an estate-stamped and hand-num...
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On Board The Palawan, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1990s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Olive Watson (left) taking her friends out sailing off the coast of Maine on her yacht, P...
Lambda
Parrot Jungle, Miami, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1955 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a family day out at the Parrot Jungle amusement park near Miami. This is an estate stamped and...
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Dining Al Fresco On Capri, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Italian artist and actress Domiziana Giordano, Italian author Francesca Sanvitale (1928 - 2011), Dino...
Lambda
Poolside Chat, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
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Kirk Douglas In Antibes, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American actor Kirk Douglas (right) prepares to go waterskiing at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Anti...
Lambda
$2,400
Actors In Antibes, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features actors Kirk Douglas (left), Louis Jourdan and Jourdan's wife Quiquie enjoying the water at the Hote...
Lambda
$5,400
Jean Serpieri at Tour La Reine (Queen's Tower), Athens, Greece, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
December 1961—Madame 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 modern Greece. The palace too originally belonged to King Otto, and was used as a summer home by the royal family. The space features neogothic architecture, a sky blue, red and gold decorative ceiling, black and white tile, and rich blue upholstery. Chromogenic Lambda print 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 20 x 20 inches $2500 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Slim Aarons Estate Edition Chromogenic Lambda print from the original transparency Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. 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 * Undercurrent Projects offers premium quality photographic prints from the Slim Aarons Archive, owned and housed by Getty Images. All photographs are printed and authorized by the Getty Images Gallery, London. Photographs are printed utilizing the original transparency held at the archive source. Tour la Reine is a former royal estate...
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Poolside Socialites, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
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Portofino, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Yachts moored in the Italian fishing village of Portofino, circa 1955. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Esta...
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The Family Ford, Michigan, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Mrs. Thomas Bancroft Jnr (Peggy Bancroft) in the foyer of her Manhattan duplex. This is an estate-s...
Lambda
$540Sale Price|40% Off
Portriat of Tom Petchlsig
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Victor Arimondi (1942-2001). Portrait of Tom Petchlsig, ca. 1975. Period print measures 8 x 10 inches; 16 x 20 inches frames. Artist studio stamp on ve...
Photographic Paper
Poolside Chat, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
Poolside Entertaining, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests by the pool at Nelda Linsk's desert house in Palm Springs, California, January 1970. The ...
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Poolside Loungers, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
Poolside Chat, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
Poolside Loungers, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
Poolside Chat, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
Poolside Chat, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
Poolside Style, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
Photographic print, hand signed and inscribed by Helen Frankenthaler, framed
Located in New York, NY
Helen Frankenthaler Hand signed and inscribed photograph, ca. 1987 Photograph printed on offset lithograph Hand signed and inscribed by Helen Frankenthaler on the front Frame Include...
Lithograph, Offset
Poolside Socialites, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
Poolside Socialites, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
$5,400
California Fashion, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Mrs. Anne Ryan (nee Evenson) wearing a sleeveless, two-piece outfit by Maurice Rentner, outside the Bota...
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La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, San Diego, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, La Jolla, San Diego. This is an estate stamp...
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Poolside Gaze, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
Lehman Family in Casa De Campo, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1990s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American educator and philanthropist Orin Lehman (1920 - 2008) with his wife, Wendy Vanderbilt Leh...
Lambda
Poolside Style, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
Villa Nirvana, Acapulco, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico. This is an ...
C Print
Party At The Playboy Mansion, Chicago, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s lifestyle photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests of American publisher Hugh Hefner enjoying themselves at a party being held at th...
Lambda
Poolside Gaze, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
$1,800
Princess Pia, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1980s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Princess Pia Ruspoli laying on a lounger by a swimming pool on the island of Capri, Italy. This is an e...
Lambda
Dining Al Fresco On Capri, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Italian artist and actress Domiziana Giordano, Italian author Francesca Sanvitale (1928 - 2011), Dino...
Lambda
Ricardo Bolliger, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Ricardo Bolliger sitting beside a swimming pool on the island of Capri, Italy, in September 1989. A ma...
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Ricardo Bolliger, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Ricardo Bolliger sitting beside a swimming pool on the island of Capri, Italy, in September 1989. A ma...
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Princess Colonna, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photogra
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Princess Colonna, posing wearing a Panama-style hat with a blue, white and green blouse, on the island...
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Carlton Hotel, France, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an entrance to the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, France. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered editio...
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Carlton Hotel, France, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an entrance to the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, France. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered editio...
Lambda
Posing By The Pool, Florida, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features people posing by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbere...
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Monocled Miss, Estate Edition (German model Renata Boeck in 1960s New York)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
German 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...
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Poolside Gaze, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
$2,400
Lynn Wyatt, France, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1990s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American socialite Lynn Wyatt by a swimming pool in Cap Ferrat, France. This is an estate-stamped...
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Posing By The Pool, Florida, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features people posing by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbere...
Lambda
$5,400
Top Up ?, Cannes, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features swimsuited revellers enjoying a glass of wine outside the Carlton Hotel, Cannes. This is an estate...
Lambda
Party At The Playboy Mansion, Chicago, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s lifestyle photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests of American publisher Hugh Hefner enjoying themselves at a party being held at th...
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Slim Aarons, 'Mady de la Houssaye' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mady de la Houssaye in Martinique, March 1973. Slim Aarons Mady de la Houssaye, Martinique, March 1973 Chromogenic Lambda print Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Edition Complimentar...
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Vourekas-Petalas Family, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Greek architect Andreas Vourekas-Petalas beside the Parthenon on the Acropolis, with his wife Alexa...
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Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur and other guests at the Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Sp...
Lambda
$1,800
Lynn Wyatt, France, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1990s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American socialite Lynn Wyatt by a swimming pool in Cap Ferrat, France. This is an estate-stamped...
Lambda
Princess Caroline Of Monaco, Monte Carlo, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1980s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Princess Caroline of Monaco in the winter-garden room of her house on the palace grounds, Monte Ca...
Lambda
$1,800
Palm Beach Pastels, Florida, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features socialite Alice Topping relaxing by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida. This is an es...
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Scottsdale Home, Arizona, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests by the pool at the home of Wayne Beal in Scottsdale, Arizona. This is an estate-stamped an...
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On Board The Palawan, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1990s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Olive Watson (left) taking her friends out sailing off the coast of Maine on her yacht, P...
Lambda
The Family Ford, Michigan, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Mrs. Thomas Bancroft Jnr (Peggy Bancroft) in the foyer of her Manhattan duplex. This is an estate-s...
Lambda
Olimpia Hruska, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Swedish model Olimpia Hruska, wearing a bikini, poses against a rock on the Costa Smeralda...
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