Diane Arbus - Photographs New York Wednesday, April 6, 2022 | Phillips

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  • "For me the subject of the picture is always more important than the picture. And more complicated."
    —Diane Arbus

    When Arbus began her personal photographic career in the late 1950s, children were one of the subjects she was drawn to – capturing natural moments of innocence and confidence with her signature, strikingly intimate aesthetic. Amy Arbus, Diane Arbus’s youngest daughter, was nine years old when photographed here. Skipping rope barefoot, with loose hair and wearing a girlish dress, Amy is isolated in timeless monochrome against a street backdrop. She recalls, ‘[my mother] used to love to photograph me and I felt it was the most incredible, loving thing for a kid […] I don’t remember a lot of discussion or direction, but she photographed me jumping rope and on the bus and walking down the street.’ 

    • Provenance

      The Estate of Diane Arbus, New York
      Acquired from the above by the present owner

    • Literature

      Aperture 199, Summer 2010, p. 76

    • Artist Biography

      Diane Arbus

      American • 1923 - 1971

      Transgressing traditional boundaries, Diane Arbus is known for her highly desirable, groundbreaking portraiture taken primarily in the American Northeast during the late 1950s and 1960s. Famous for establishing strong personal relationships with her subjects, Arbus' evocative images capture them in varied levels of intimacy. Whether in their living rooms or on the street, their surreal beauty transcends the common distance found in documentary photography.

      Taken as a whole, Arbus' oeuvre presents the great diversity of American society — nudists, twins, babies, beauty queens and giants — while each distinct image brings the viewer into contact with an exceptional individual brought to light through Arbus' undeniable genius. 

      View More Works

183

Barefoot child jumping rope, N.Y.C.

1963
Gelatin silver print, printed 1963-1964.
9 1/4 x 6 1/4 in. (23.5 x 15.9 cm)
Signed by the photographer in pencil, stamped 'A Diane Arbus print,' signed by Doon Arbus, Executor, in ink, estate copyright credit and reproduction limitation stamps on the verso.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$25,000 - 35,000 

Sold for $31,500

Contact Specialist

Sarah Krueger
Head of Department, Photographs
skrueger@phillips.com


Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Chairwoman, Americas
vhallett@phillips.com

Photographs

New York Auction 6 April 2022