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.
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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Sunbathing In Burgenstock, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Lilian Hanson sunbathing by a pool at the Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne in Canton Nidwald...
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Florence Pritchett Smith, Venice, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1950 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features model turned fashion editor turned society hostess, Florence Pritchett Smith, covers her sleevel...
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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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Marbles Championship, New York City, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1940s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of boys competing in a marble championship in Central Park, New York City. This i...
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$1,800
Poolside Waiting, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a waiter by the pool at Nelda Linsk's desert house in Palm Springs, January 1970. The house was...
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Last-minute Adjustments, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a young woman has last-minute adjustments made to her dress at a debutante ball. This is a...
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Island Lookout, Hog Island, 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 Nattily dressed, W Clifford Klenk with his telescope and his wife, Hope, in their Hog Island house....
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Slim Aarons 'Venice Vacation', Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Holidaymakers on the pier at the Lido in Venice, 1957. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons Venice Vacation Chromogenic Lambda print 1957, Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Edition Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Stamped and hand numbered by the Slim Aarons Estate. Certificate of Authenticity included. This artwork DOES include a certificate of authenticity from the authenticating body, the estate Collector will get the next number in the edition 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches $3000 12 x 12 inches $1800 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. Photograph is unframed Modern estate edition with estate blindstamp signature and hand number in lower margin 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). * Undercurrent Projects, New York, is proud to represent Aarons' full collection of negatives and transparencies. Housed at Getty Images Hulton Archive in London, 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. Internal: Slim Aarons Venice...
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$3,600
Beverly Hills Party, Los Angeles, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1954 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American actors Lauren Bacall and Judy Garland attending a house party in Beverly Hills. This i...
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$2,400
Rockefeller Brothers, New York, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1980 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Rockefeller brothers in their Radio City, New York office. Left to right, Laurance (1910 - 2...
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Top People's Eatery, San Francisco, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Journalist Lucius Beebe beside a gold place setting in t...
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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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Prado Visitors, Madrid, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features visitors at the The Prado Museum (Museo Nacional del Prado) viewing Diego Velázquez's maste...
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$3,900
Sunbathing In Venice, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a woman sunbatheing, wearing a novelty straw sun hat with built-in sunglasses, Venice. Th...
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Gordon C. MacKenzie, New Hampshire, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the race driver Gordon C. MacKenzie in Franconia, New Hampshire. This is an estate stampe...
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Californian Party, San Francisco, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1990s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Belgian born actress Audrey Hepburn (1929 - 1993) socialising at a party in San Francisco. This is an estate stamp...
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Naumburg Bandshell, New York City, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1940s urban photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features couples dance to a live band performing at the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, New York Cit...
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Jim Kimberly, California, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Jim Kimberly and Kim Wadsworth at the Beverly Hills Hotel, California. This is an estate ...
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$3,900
Palm Springs Life, 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 Nelda Linsk (left, in yellow), wife of art dealer Joseph Linsk with guests by the pool at the Li...
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$3,000
Rockefeller Brothers, New York, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1980 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Rockefeller brothers in their Radio City, New York office. Left to right, Laurance (1910 - 2...
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$3,900
Saint-Tropez, France, 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 holidaymakers on the deck of a yacht in Saint-Tropez, France. This is an estate-stamped and hand-num...
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$3,000
Beverly Hills Party, Los Angeles, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1954 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American actors Lauren Bacall and Judy Garland attending a house party in Beverly Hills. This i...
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$2,400
Chalet Costi, Zermatt, Estate Edition, Winter Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Chalet Costi, Zermatt, Estate Edition, Winter Landscape Photograph This late 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers outside the Ch...
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Verbier Skiers, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Winter Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Verbier Skiers, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Winter Portrait Photograph This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers at Verbier....
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Marisa Berenson, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress Marisa Berenson sunbathing in Capri, 1968. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by ...
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Arturo Pani's Villa
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The swimming pool at Arturo Pani's villa, Acapulco, Mexico, January 1968. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this vibr...
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Ski Siren, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Winter Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ski Siren, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Winter Portrait Photograph This early 1960s winter landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Model Barbara...
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Slim Aarons 'Monocled Miss' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Renata 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...
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Prado Visitors, Madrid, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features visitors at the The Prado Museum (Museo Nacional del Prado) viewing Diego Velázquez's maste...
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$4,200
Slim Aarons, Jack & GeeGee Entz on Rose-Canopied Steps, Tivoli near Rome, Italy
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Jack and GeeGee Entz beneath the rose-canopied steps which lead to the entrance of the tennis courts at the Villa d'Este at Tivoli, near Rome, Italy, ...
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Staying At The Carlton, 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 guests at the entrance to the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, France. This is an estate-stamped and hand-nu...
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Staying At The Carlton, 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 guests at the entrance to the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, France. This is an estate-stamped and hand-nu...
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Staying At The Carlton, 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 guests at the entrance to the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, France. This is an estate-stamped and hand-nu...
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Staying At The Carlton, 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 guests at the entrance to the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, France. This is an estate-stamped and hand-nu...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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$3,600
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...
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Poolside Ladies, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 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 dealer J...
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Poolside Ladies, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 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 dealer J...
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Poolside Ladies, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 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 dealer J...
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Pierro and Ludovico Antinori, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Pierro Antinori and Ludovico Antinori posing by a well, on which rests a bottle of white wine and two g...
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French Bath
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Joyce Pallardy relaxes at the Villa Macopa, the home of Mrs Andre Hammel in St Tropez, August 1977. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects i...
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$3,000
Marguerite Pindling, Bahama, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Dame Marguerite Pindling, Lady Pindling with her children Obafemi, Leslie, Monique and Mi...
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Top People's Eatery, San Francisco, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Journalist Lucius Beebe beside a gold place setting in the glass roofed Garden Court of the...
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Governing Couple
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Nancy Reagan and her husband film star and Governor of California, Ronald Reagan (later the 40th President of the USA) in Acapulco, mexico. Complimentary dealer shipping to your fr...
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Windsors In Portofino, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1950s figurative photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Duke and Duchess of Windsor walking their dog in Portofino in 1951. This is an est...
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Acapulco Pool
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Architect Arturo Pani and his wife by their swimming pool at home in Acapulco, Mexico. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to o...
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Principe Dom Pedro, Brazil, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1980s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, Principe Dom Pedro De Orleans E Braganca, grandson of Brazilian emperor Pedro II. He is pictured at...
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Windsors In Portofino, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1950s figurative photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Duke and Duchess of Windsor walking their dog in Portofino in 1951. This is an est...
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No Surrender, Belfast, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features children playing 'Ring a Ring o' Roses' on a street marked with graffiti reading 'No Surr...
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$4,200
Sarah Marson Williams, Barbados, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Sarah Marson Williams enjoying a cocktail on the beach at the Hilton Hotel, Needhams Point,...
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San Vicenzo, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1984, Donna Stefanella Vanni Calvello di San Vicenzo in the Hall of Mirrors at her family's palazzo in Palermo, Sicily. The focal point of Sicilian Belle-Epoque society, this eightee...
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$4,200
Slim Aarons 'George Hamilton with Horse on Capri' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
April 1966: Actor George Hamilton with a horse on the island of Capri Slim Aarons George Hamilton with Horse on Capri Chromogenic Lambda Print Slim Aarons Estate Edition Estate st...
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Barone Bettino Ricasoli, 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 Winemaker Barone Bettino Ricasoli holding up a wine glass beside a table, on which stand three bottle...
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Nice Pool, Palm Beach, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American writer C.Z. Guest (Mrs F.C. Winston Guest, 1920 - 2003) and her son Alexander Michael Dougl...
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Cocteau Collector, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
August 1982: Art collector Sylvia Coca sits in front of one of Jean Cocteau's murals in Marbella. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Auth...
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New Year at Romanoff's, Clark Gable, Van Heflin, Gary Cooper, James Stewart
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Film stars (left to right) Clark Gable (1901 - 1960), Van Heflin (1910 - 1971), Gary Cooper (1901 - 1961) and James Stewart (1908 - 1997) enjoy a joke at a New Year's party held at Romanoff's in Beverly Hills. New Year at Romanoff's Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Edition 16 x 20 inches Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate. Certificate of Authenticity included. Purchaser will get the next number in the edition 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 Digital Fiber print, a digital version of traditional darkroom process. Hybrid paper is responsive to digital laser technology. Digital Fiber provides true black and white printing, without colour cast. 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 * Founded by Michael Romanoff (born Hershel Geguzin, 1890-1971), Romanoff's was a popular restaurant with Hollywood stars during the 1940s and 1950s, including director Alfred Hitchcock. This image has a popular companion piece, Kings of Hollywood. Internal: Vintage Slim Aarons, Vintage Hollywood, Vintage Glamour, 1950s, Beverly Hills, Clark Gable, Van Heflin, Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Vintage Hollywood Glamour...
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The Ali Children, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
August 1980: In Spanish style riding clothes from l to r; TRH Princess Rajwa Ali, Princess Basma Ali and Prince Bin Ali. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons Estate Editi...
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