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Fieldston High School
Senior Portrait 1940
Height: 5' 5 1/2"
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Green
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The Black and White
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"One
of the things I felt I suffered from as a kid was I never
felt adversity."
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1923
On March 14, Diane Arbus (pronounced "Dee-Ann") is born Diane Nemerov in New York City
into a wealthy Jewish family that co-owns and operates an upscale
fur and fashion clothing business, Russeks. She is the second
child of David and Gertrude Nemerov. Her older brother Howard,
born in 1920, grows up to receive many accolades as a poet including
a Pulitzer Prize in 1978 and becomes the third poet laureate
of the United States from 1988 to 1990.
1927
The Nemerov family sails to Europe to view the latest European
fashion trends. The children vacation with their governess in
La Touquet, France.
1928
Diane, following her brother, enters the Ethical Culture School—a progressive private grammar school that nurtures, among
other things, psychological development and moral education.
She is a good student who learns her subjects quickly. Her teachers
are impressed by her mature composure and high intelligence.
She is also popular with other students who seek out her company.
She begins to show signs of artistic talent and ability in her
art classes. She is good at drawing, painting and sculpture.
On October 13, Diane's sister Renée
is born. Like her siblings, Renée grows up to become
an accomplished artist—her fields of talent are sculpture
and painting.
Starting with children's books such as Alice In Wonderland,
Peter Pan, and Grimm's Fairy Tales, Diane
becomes an avid lifelong reader. Many of the books she reads
throughout her life—fantasy, fairy tales, romantic novels,
drama, philosophy and psychology—will help shape her
approach to photography.
1929
The stock market crashes. The economic fallout doesn't effect
the Nemerov lifestyle drastically. |
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"The family fortune always seemed to me humiliating. When I had to go into that store [Russeks] . . . I would come on somebody's arm or holding somebody's hand at what must have been a fairly young age and it was like being a princess in some loathsome movie of some kind of Transylvanian obscure middle European country and the kingdom was so humiliating."
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During the 1930s, Diane attends summer camps in Maine, Arizona,
and the Poconos. The family also vacations at the "Jewish
Newport" in Deal, New Jersey.
1932
The Nemerovs move into the luxurious San Remo apartment building
on Central Park West in Manhattan. They will live there until
1940.
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1934
After completing the Ethical Culture School, Diane continues
her private school education by attending Fieldston
in Riverdale, north of the Bronx. Fieldston is the continuation
school of the School of Ethical Culture, and continues the emphasis
on progressive education.
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Diane continues to show real talent and ability in painting,
drawing and sculpture. She becomes familiar with the work of
Francisco
de Goya, George
Grosz, Paul
Klee and Käthe
Kollwitz. Some of her teachers consider her "gifted."
Her parents provide her with private art lessons. Her father
David,
who considers himself to be something of an artist, is particularly
supportive.
Mid-1930s
During her adolescence, Diane develops her distinctive speaking
style. She starts to speak sentences in a soft voice—abruptly stops and stares off into space silently—and
then suddenly finishes her thoughts in a burst of words and
giggles.
Diane (along with a friend) occasionally takes long, meandering
subway rides to observe other passengers they find interesting.
They also get off at random station stops and follow people
to their homes.
1937
Diane meets Allan Arbus (born 1918). He a copy boy in the Russeks
art department. His uncle, Max
Weinstein, is the president of Russeks. Allan has a love for
the fine arts, particularly acting. They are immediately attracted
to to each other and start dating. Diane's parents do not initially
approve of their relationship because of Diane's young age (14)
and Allan's lack of wealth and social standing. Nevertheless,
Allan and Diane steal away time together for walks in Central
Park, teas, and attending The Museum of Modern Art exhibitions
such as Photography 1839–1937 in 1937 and Walker
Evans: American Photographs in 1938. These lead to Diane
becoming familiar with the work of famous photographers favoring
Eugène
Atget, Matthew
Brady, Bill
Brandt, Timothy
O'Sullivan, and Paul
Strand (who attended the Ethical Culture School—but
before Diane attended).
1938
Diane spends the summer at the Cummington School of the Arts
near Northhampton, Massachusetts. She meets fellow student Alex
Eliot (later an arts editor for Time magazine from
1945 to 1960) and they become
close friends. When he marries Anne Dick and they have a daughter,
May, in 1941, Diane is her godmother. Diane is watchful, nurturing
and supportive of May until Diane's death.
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The Angel Gabriel (Allen
Arbus)
18" x 14"
oil on canvas board
by Diane Nemerov
1938
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Diane experiences
depressions (along with other members of her family) and these
will recur and deepen as her life progresses.
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"I hated painting and I quit right after high school because I was continually told how terrific I was . . . it made me feel shaky."
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1940
Having already written essays about Sophocles and Flaubert while
at Fieldston, Diane writes senior English papers on The
Old Testament, Don Quixote and Chaucer's The
Canterbury Tales. She becomes fascinated with
archetypes, myths and rituals. Her interest in people and cultures
become lifelong passions.
Diane graduates Fieldston in June 1940.
1941
Diane marries Allan Arbus on April 10, 1941 with their immediate
families in attendance. The marriage takes place less than a
month after her 18th birthday.
Allan gives Diane a Graflex 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 camera. In their first
apartment, they use the bathroom as a darkroom. Diane studies
with famed photographer Berenice Abbott to learn the technical aspects of
photography. David Nemerov hires Diane and Allan to photograph
advertisements for Russeks.
They meet photographer Alfred
Stieglitz at his gallery An American Place, strike up a friendship
with him and occasionally show Stieglitz their photographs for
feedback.
1942
Allan joins the army and is ultimately assigned to the Photography
Division of the Signal Corps. Diane and Allan are able to live
together in a small apartment in Manhattan.
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nude study of Diane Arbus
by Allan Arbus
1944
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1944
Allen is shipped overseas to India. A pregnant Diane moves in
with her parents in their Park Avenue apartment. Her father
gives her a 5 x 7 Deardorff view camera. She takes pictures
of family and friends. She takes nude ones of herself—marking her pregnancy—to send to Allan. She also keeps
Allan up to date on photography trends in the U.S.
1945
Diane eludes her family and goes to New York Hospital alone
to give birth to her first daughter, Doon, on April 3.
1946–49
Allan is discharged, he and Diane move to a West 70th Street
apartment, rent a space for a photography studio on West 54th
Street and start their photography business, "Diane and
Allan Arbus." Diane usually does the art design while Allan
handles the camera. Starting with their Russeks account, they
will expand their client base to include advertising agencies
and magazines such as Glamour, Vogue, Seventeen
(for which they shoot numerous covers) and others. They also
become familiar with the work of their competitors: Richard
Avedon, Irving
Penn, and Louise Dahl-Wolfe among others.
The skills Diane hones during this period will become crucial
to her artistic development when she becomes a solo photographer
in the late 1950s. She becomes a crack researcher, learns to
think in terms of complete images (including posing, lighting,
decor and surroundings) and learns how to handle all kinds of
intense people.
The Arbuses earn a respected reputation in the fashion photography
field as meticulous perfectionists who are adept at both studio
and location shooting.
In 1947, Diane and Allan appear in a Glamour magazine
feature article "Mr. & Mrs. Inc." Diane and Doon
occasionally model in front of the camera for some of the Arbus
client shoots.
In contrast to the glamorous images Diane helps produce, her
personal appearance takes the form of unshaven legs and underarms,
wearing the same dress suit constantly, using no make-up, roaming
their studio in dirty feet and using a brown paper bag instead
of a purse to carry things.
To relax from their stressful N.Y.C. existence, the Arbuses
take summer vacations at Martha's Vineyard with their friends
and children.
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Diane and Allan 1951
photograph by
Frances McLaughlin-Gill |
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"In the beginning of photographing
I used to make very grainy things . . . It was my teacher,
Lisette Model, who finally made it clear to me that the more
specific you are, the more general it will be . . ."
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1950
Glamour magazine occasionally gives Diane solo photo assignments:
portraits and photography for feature articles. Though this
early work lacks the visual and psychological style that she
will become famous for, it is a crucial step towards her independent
future.
1951
Diane and Allan appear in a Glamour magazine article
"I Love You Because . . ."
The Arbuses sublet their studio and go to Europe (France, Spain,
and Italy) for a year as a respite from fashion photography.
Diane, exploring the unfamiliar terrain of Europe, continues
to develop her artistic and compositional eye as she photographs
their journeys with an emphasis on children, architecture and
landscapes.
1952
The Arbuses return to New York in May. They rent a triplex studio/apartment
on East 72nd Street and resume fashion photography.
1954
On April 16, 1954, the Arbus' second daughter Amy is born. Diane
chooses natural childbirth.
Despite the personal demons that will increasingly plague Diane
in the coming years, she will always be able to express her
unreserved love to her children, to put their needs first and
encourage them to be free-thinking individuals.
1955
Diane's grandmother, Rose, dies. Diane photographs the corpse.
At The New School for Social Research, Diane takes a photography
course with famed Harper's Bazaar art director, Alexey
Brodovitch. She finds the class less than inspiring and
does not study with him again.
1956
Diane begins numbering her negatives and contact sheets. This
helps in the cataloging and archiving of her work. She will
shoot over 7,500 rolls of film over the next 15 years.
During the 50s, Diane (with Allan joining her on occasion) is
a culture vulture: attending plays, Happenings, art openings,
sitting in on poetry readings (especially when her brother Howard
reads his work), watching underground films, and hanging out
at the Limelight Cafe (one of the first coffee houses to showcase
art photography).
Completely burned out with the fashion business and wanting
to shoot on her own, Diane quits the photography partnership
with Allan. Since their studio name, "Diane and Allan Arbus,"
is so well known, they retain the name after Diane's departure
from the business. Allan's assistants, however, will process
her film rolls until 1969. Diane does her own printing.
Diane enrolls in a photography course taught by prominent female
photographer
Lisette Model. Model's work was published in Harper's
Bazaar during the 1940s and consistently exhibited at The
Museum of Modern Art. Diane is inspired and encouraged by Model
to develop her own style based on her own ideas and thoughts.
In fact, Diane ultimately adopts and expands on the photographic
subject matter and techniques that Model originally pioneered:
people on the margins of society, the use of flash, and making
large 16" x 20" prints. Prior to meeting Lisette,
Diane's photography is distinguished by its graininess, use
of natural shadows and blurry focus. After working with Lisette,
Diane's photographs become highly contrasted, well-lit and sharply
focused. Also, by the early 60s, Diane will stop cropping most
of her photographs (in direct contrast to Model's cropped technique).
1957–58
She photographs a wide variety of subject matter, much of which
she will revisit and refine in the future: sideshows, children,
beach scenes, the insides of movie theaters, female impersonators
and so on. She also photographs in Central Park, Times Square,
Grand Central Station, the Horn and Hardart Automat,
Hubert's
Dime Museum and Flea Circus on 42nd Street, Coney
Island (especially the wax museum and spookhouse), dance
halls in Harlem and elsewhere. Diane covers annual street and
holiday parades too.
1959
Diane starts keeping detailed appointment and idea books. These
books will become treasure troves of information for future
Arbus researchers.
Diane begins reading Zen literature (Zen Buddhism and
I Ching amongst others), which complements her earlier
readings of Western philosophy (including works by Plato, Benedict
Spinoza, Arthur Schopenhauer, Søren Kierkegaard, Carl Gustav Jung, etc).
"The Chinese have a theory that
you must pass through boredom into fascination and I think it's
true."
Diane and Allan separate. Diane and the daughters move to 131
1/2 Charles St., a converted stable house in Greenwich Village.
Allan establishes a new studio near Washington Square Park.
The family still meet for lengthy Sunday breakfasts at Diane's
apartment. Allan and Diane do not tell their parents of their
separation for three years.
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Diane receives her first solo assignment from Esquire
magazine called "The Vertical Journey: Six Movements of
a Moment Within the Heart of the City" which is a six photograph
article that chronicles a cross section of the extremes in New
York City—from a picture of a young, rich trophy wife
to a corpse in the morgue. With this project, Arbus starts obtaining
press passes that allow her access to places and events that
she would ordinarily be unable to go to. She will use these
passes for her personal work too. Also, during this project,
Arbus peppers Esquire with all sorts of new photographic
subjects and ideas for potential assignments. She does this
in order to try to get more paying assignments in general and
ones more suited to her tastes and artistic goals in particular.
This becomes her modus operandi for paying assignments for the
rest of her career. In fact some of her commercial photography
is really an extension of/or groundwork for her private projects
and some of her private projects become the basis for her commercial
work. Arbus will also occasionally incorporate photographs taken
years earlier (including one of her daughter Amy) for commercial
assignments.
Arbus meets Marvin Israel,
art director, fine artist, graphic designer and instructor.
He becomes a mentor (or perhaps even a Svengali) to her and
though both are married, they begin an on-again, off-again love
affair. Like Lisette Model, Israel pushes Arbus to refine her
art—to dig down deep, overcome her innate shyness and
photograph her unique interests. She does. Israel also advises
and promotes the artistic development of photographers Richard
Avedon and Lee Friedlander. Despite his talents, Israel can be caustic and
verbally abusive to people, which alienate a number of Diane's
friends.
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"I want to photograph the considerable ceremonies of our present because we tend while living here and now to perceive only what is random and barren and formless about it. While we regret that the present is not like the past and despair of its ever becoming the future, its innumerable, inscrutable habits lie in wait for their meaning . . . These are our symptoms and our monuments. I want simply to save them, for what is ceremonious and curious and commonplace will be legendary."
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Excerpts from Diane Arbus' 1962 Guggenheim Foundation grant
proposal.
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1960
Marvin Israel introduces Diane to the work of German photographer August Sander, who
photographed a cross section of German society from 1918 to
the 1930s. In his subject matter and frontal portraits, Sander's
work prefigures Diane's coming work in the 1960s. Arbus will
refer to her work as "a kind of contemporary anthropology."
Arbus sees Tod Browning's 1932 classic cult film "Freaks"
for the first time. It is a circus melodrama that features a
cast of real pinheads, midgets, and a bearded lady. It becomes
one her favorites and she will see it again many times.
A non-drinker, Arbus occasionally smokes pot and cigarettes.
In the coming years she will allegedly try hash, LSD, and amyl
nitrate in addition to taking birth control pills and prescribed
anti-depressants.
Arbus begins going to small carnivals and circuses up and down
the Eastern seaboard in search of subjects to photograph.
Arbus finds a kindred spirit in Joseph Mitchell, writer for The New Yorker and author of McSorley's Wonderful
Saloon, which profiles New York City eccentrics. She learns from him
some techniques to finding and gaining the trust of quirky people. He urges her to linger around public places, watch and
talk to the people that catch her interest—to become
a detective of sorts.
Arbus meets and photographs for the first time Lauro Morales
(aka "The Mexican Dwarf") and Eddie Carmel (aka "The
Jewish Giant") and Andrew Ratoucheff (aka "The Russian
Midget"). She will shoot iconic images of them all in the
coming years.
"The Vertical Journey" is published in Esquire in July 1960. It includes edited versions of her original captions.
Arbus pitches an idea about eccentrics that Esquire accepts. She will work on the project (which will be entitled
"The Full Circle") through mid-1961.
1961
Arbus works on "The Full Circle" assignment. Eventually, Esquire declines to publish it but Harper's Bazaar—with Marvin Israel as its newly appointed art director—accepts the piece and publishes it (with the exclusion
of one picture) with Diane's text in November 1961.
Arbus also works on an assignment for a new magazine, Show, called "Horror Show—These Are Nightmares To Beguile
Us While We Wait" but it is never published. Among the
images shot are the "headless" man and woman, the
World of Wax Musée at Coney Island. These photos won't
be shown publicly until the 1980s.
Around this time, Arbus establishes enduring friendships with
Richard Avedon and Japanese photographer Hiro. They will form
a kind of mutual admiration society. They talk shop about their
art and commercial projects in the years to come. Avedon is
drawn to Diane's rough and uncompromising style while she
is attracted to Avedon's versatility (being masterful in both
the commercial and art photography) and his glamorous and successful
career. Hiro will share with Arbus his technical knowledge and
advice.
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Diane Arbus with daughter Amy in the courtyard at 131
1/2 Charles St.
photo by Lee Friedlander
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1962
Arbus starts using the 2 1/4 square format Rolleiflex camera
to try to obtain more sharpness in her photographs. At first
she finds the camera and her results frustrating but, following
the advice of Lisette Model, she begins shooting the same subjects
with both her 35mm Nikon and Rolleiflex cameras in order to
assess the resulting images produced by these different formats.
This helps to stoke her progress and eventual mastery of the
Rolleiflex. The square formatted photograph with sharp focus
will become part of the signature look of her mature style.
Infinity magazine (published by The American Society
of Magazine Photographers of which Arbus is a member) reprints
"The Full Circle" with all six pictures and full text
in February.
During the summer, Arbus travels to Los Angeles via bus. She
stays and photographs in Los Angeles (Venice Beach, Disneyland
and Universal Studios' backlot) until mid-August. Among the
other things she photographs are fortune tellers for celebrities
(meant for Harper's Bazaar, but published in Glamour
in 1964) and beauty contestants.
In November, Esquire publishes "Doom and Passion
Along Rte. 45" featuring a double page spread of Diane's
photograph of the Committee for Non-Violent Action protest march.
In need of funding for her private projects, Arbus begins the
process of applying for a Guggenheim Fellowship for Photography.
She contacts and receives the support of Lisette Model, Edward
Steichen, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, and Lee Friedlander. She entitles her proposed
project "American Rites, Manners and Customs."
John Szarkowski, the new head of the photography department
at The Museum of Modern Art, reviews Diane's portfolio and is
semi-impressed. He thinks she can improve her style. He discusses the work of August Sander with her.
Diane's close friend, Pati Hill, publishes her fourth novel,
One Thing I Know, and dedicates it to her.
Arbus has work published in Infinity, Harper's
Bazaar, Esquire, and Show.
Among the famous Arbus photographs taken this year are:
A castle in Disneyland, Cal. 1962
A house on a hill, Hollywood, Cal. 1962
Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C.
1962
Man and a boy on a bench in Central Park, N.Y.C. 1962
Marcello Mastroianni
in his hotel room, N.Y.C. 1962
(published in Show
magazine in 1963)
Miss Venice Beach, Cal. 1962
Peace Marchers, N.J. 1962
Two boys smoking in Central Park, N.Y.C. 1962
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1963
Arbus works on a self-conceived project, "Silver
Spoons (Children of Good Fortune)," photographing the children of the ultra-rich. Though she puts
a considerable amount of work into the project, it goes unpublished.
In conjunction with her "American Rites, Manners and Customs"
project, Arbus attends a number of contests throughout the year
including "Miss Lo-Cal," "Freckles," and
"spaghetti eating."
In April, Arbus receives a Guggenheim Fellowship with its $5,000
funding to be used between June 1963 and June 1964.
Diane's father, David, is dying of cancer. She visits him as
he wastes away in the hospital. She photographs him as he slips
in and out of delirium. He passes away in May.
In July, Arbus visits her first nudist camp, Sunshine Park in
New Jersey. She will photograph nudists over the coming years.
Arbus has work published in Show, Harper's
Bazaar, Esquire, and New York Times
Book Review.
Among the famous Arbus photographs taken this year are:
A husband and wife in the woods at a nudist camp,
N.J. 1963
A Jewish couple dancing, N.Y.C. 1963
A Puerto Rican housewife, N.Y.C. 1963
A widow in her bedroom, N.Y.C. 1963
A young waitress at a nudist camp, N.J. 1963
Burlesque comedienne in her dressing room, Atlantic City,
N.J. 1963
Lady in a rooming house parlor, Albion, N.Y. 1963
Norman Mailer at home,
Brooklyn, N.Y. 1963 (for
New York Times Book Review)
Russian midget friends in a living room on 100th Street,
N.Y.C. 1963
Retired man and his wife at home in a nudist camp one
morning, N.J. 1963
Teenage couple on Hudson Street, N.Y.C. 1963
The Junior Interstate Ballroom Dance Champions, Yonkers,
N.Y. 1963
Triplets in their bedroom, N.J. 1963
Xmas tree in a living room in Levittown, L.I.
1963
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1964
Arbus photographs celebrities and film stars such as Lillian
and Dorothy Gish, ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev and poet Marianne
Moore for Harper's Bazaar.
In February, Arbus travels to New Orleans for Mardi Gras to
photograph.
Now married in name only, Arbus embarks on sexual adventures
involving women, orgies, African-Americans, complete strangers
and so on. Beside the sexual gratification of these encounters,
it is also related to Diane's forthcoming photographs that depict
the different kinds of sexual identity people choose. She will
also study the science of sexual research and collect pornography.
Arbus travels to California in August where she photographs
Mae West, which will be published with Diane's text in Show
magazine in January 1965. She also photographs in Santa Barbara.
Arbus photographs the wedding of Dr. Timothy Leary to Nena von
Schlebrugge.
Arbus works on two self-conceived projects, "People and
Their Pets" and "Minority Pin-ups," which ultimately
don't get published.
The Museum of Modern Art acquires seven Arbus prints for its
photography collection.
Arbus has work published in Glamour, Harper's
Bazaar, Esquire, and Saturday Evening
Post.
Among the famous Arbus photographs taken this year are:
A flower girl at a wedding, Conn. 1964
Bishop by the sea, Santa Barbara, Cal. 1964
Lady bartender at home with a souvenir dog, New Orleans,
1964
Mae West (for Show
Magazine)
Mia Farrow (for Harper's
Bazaar)
Santas at the Santa Claus School, Albion, N.Y. 1964
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1965
In March, five of Diane's photographs are included in a group
photography show at the University of Wisconsin's School of
Fine Arts.
In late spring, Arbus begins photographing in Washington Square
Park in Greenwich Village (and about 15 minutes from her home
on Charles St.). She will photograph here throughout the summer.
Arbus begins printing her photographs with the black film borders
visible. It will become part of her signature style for the
next couple of years.
In early July Arbus goes to the Sunnyrest nudist camp in Pennsylvania
to photograph.
Arbus applies for a renewal of her 1963 Guggenheim. She names
her project proposal "The Interior Landscape." It
is a deeper exploration of her "American Rites, Manners
and Customs" project from her first grant.
Arbus adds the newly released 2 1/4 format Mamiayflex C33 camera
to her photography equipment. Its flash attachment allows her
to control lighting in new ways, especially in daylight where
the flash can illuminate faces that would ordinarily be cast
in shadows when facing away from the sun. In nighttime situations,
Arbus can now really flood her subject matter with light to
create distinct shadows in the background. She will use flash
extensively in the coming years.
In the fall, Arbus teaches photography part time at Parsons
School of Design in Manhattan.
Hubert's museum goes out of business and closes down. Before
it does, Arbus photographs many of its performers and she is
given a considerable collection of headshot photographs of past
performers. She writes an article about Hubert's but isn't published
by any magazines.
Arbus has work published in Show, Harper's
Bazaar, and Esquire.
Among the famous Arbus photographs taken this year are:
A family one evening in a nudist camp, Pa. 1965
Girl with a
cigar in Washington Square Park, N.Y.C. 1965
Jane Jacobs and her son,
Ned (for Esquire)
Jayne Mansfield and her daughter, Jayne Marie (for
Esquire)
Nudist lady with swan sunglasses, Pa. 1965
Puerto Rican woman with a beauty mark, N.Y.C. 1965
Susan Sontag and her
son, David (for Esquire)
Two friends at home, N.Y.C. 1965
Young couple on a bench in Washington Square Park, N.Y.C.
1965
Young man and his pregnant wife in Washington Square Park,
N.Y.C. 1965
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1966
Arbus continues to teach photography at Parsons School of Design.
She also goes to and guests at photography workshops, seminars
and symposiums.
In March Arbus receives notice that she has been awarded her
second Guggenheim Fellowship—this time for the amount
of $7,500.
Arbus photographs at Andy Warhol's Factory.
Portraits of contemporary American fine artists are the subjects
for a Harper's Bazaar photography assignment that Arbus
completes.
John Szarkowski selects Arbus, along with Garry Winogrand and
Lee Friedlander
for a documentary photography show at the Museum of Modern Art
scheduled to exhibit in March 1967.
During the summer, Arbus contracts hepatitis. It takes her about
three months to recover. She doesn't photograph during this
period.
John Szarkowski works with Arbus on picture selection for the
upcoming MoMA show.
Arbus goes to a twins Christmas party in Roselle, New Jersey
and photographs twin children.
In December, Arbus goes to Jamaica to shoot a children's fashion
assignment for The New York Times Magazine II.
Arbus has work published in The World Journal Tribune,
Harper's Bazaar, and Esquire.
Among the famous Arbus photographs taken this year are:
A lobby in a building, N.Y.C. 1966
A young Brooklyn family going for a Sunday outing, N.Y.C.
1966
A young man in curlers at home on West 20th Street, N.Y.C.
1966
Claes Oldenburg (for
Harper's Bazaar)
Frank Stella (for Harper's Bazaar)
James Brown at home in curlers, Queens, N.Y. 1966 (for
The World Tribune newspaper)
Roy Lichtenstein (for
Harper's Bazaar)
The 1938 Debutante of
the Year at home, Boston, Mass. 1966 (for Esquire)
Transvestite showing cleavage, N.Y.C. 1966
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1967
After obtaining her first driver's license, Arbus buys a used
car for traveling to locations for photography projects.
In March, Newsweek interviews Arbus regarding the "New
Documents" exhibition.
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Diane's
self-made postcard invitation to writer Joseph Mitchell of The
New Yorker:
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"New Documents" runs from March 5 to May 7. It receives
both positive and negative reviews. Arbus invites a wide spectrum
of friends, family, associates (such as Andy Warhol and Robert
Frank) supporters (Lisette Model, Marvin Israel and Richard Avedon)
and people that posed for her to attend the exhibition. Norman
Mailer later sends her a congratulation note. This show exposes
her work to a wider public audience than ever before.
Taking a break from the "New Documents" notoriety, Arbus
travels to Florida for a brief photographing safari. She attempts
to persuade legendary pin-up photographer Bunny Yeager to pose for her, but it doesn't happen.
Arbus photographs both anti- and pro-war marches, diaper
derbys, parties and celebrities.
In July, Arbus visits San Francisco—she doesn't like Haight-Ashbury.
After visiting Los Angeles, she returns to New York City via car
and bus.
Arbus meets with British editor Peter Crookston and she begins
getting new assignments from him. Her work will now be published
in Britain as well as the USA.
Fledgling
New York magazine assigns
Arbus to photograph Andy Warhol Superstar Viva for an upcoming
article—the editor wants images that will be talked about.
Arbus obliges. When the photographs are published, they are so
controversial that subscribers write in and advertisers cancel
ads (estimated at over $1,000,000). Diane's reputation becomes
somewhat infamous as a result and some art directors become reluctant
to use her for future projects.
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Viva
© The Estate of Diane Arbus,
LLC. |
Because of rising rent, Arbus cancels a proposed trip to London
in order to find a new apartment in Manhattan.
Arbus has work published in Harper's Bazaar,
Esquire and The New York Times Magazine Part
II.
One of Diane's photographs is used for the cover of her
brother Howard Nemerov's book The Blue Swallows.
Among the famous Arbus photographs taken this year are:
A child crying, N.J. 1967
A woman with pearl necklace and earrings, N.Y.C. 1967
Anderson Hayes Cooper
(for Harper's Bazaar)
Blonde girl with shiny lipstick, N.Y.C. 1967
Boy with a straw hat waiting to march in a pro-war parade,
N.Y.C. 1967
Identical twins, Roselle, N.J. 1967
Loser at a Diaper Derby, N.J. 1967
Man
at a parade on Fifth Avenue, N.Y.C. 1969 (photograph
taken in 1967, printed in 1969)
Michael J. Pollard (for Cheetah
magazine)
Mother holding her child, New Jersey, 1967
Patriotic young man with a flag, N.Y.C. 1967
Seated man in bra and stockings, N.Y.C. 1967
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1968
Arbus and her daughters move to a duplex apartment in the East
Village.
If February, she photographs harrowing pictures in South Carolina
for an Esquire article concerning poverty and malnutrition,
and a crusading young doctor, Dr. Donald Gatch, trying to resolve
it.
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In letters she writes to various people, Arbus mentions the
idea of creating a book, most likely concerning the concept
of "family." She never does the book. However, others
resurrect her idea for a traveling posthumous photography exhibition
and catalog book in 2003—Diane Arbus: Family Albums (see books
and media section for more details about the book).
In mid-July, Arbus is admitted to Doctors Hospital in New York
City when she suffers a relapse of hepatitis. This diagnosis
is reached only after extensive tests. Arbus loses a lot of
weight and strength. She also has to spend of rest of the summer
recuperating in New York City and East Hampton. As a result,
Arbus changes her diet and stops taking anti-depressants. Her
subsequent depressions, mood swings and crying spells become
increasingly severe as time goes on.
Arbus allows some of her photographs to published in the newly
founded Picture Newspaper—a large-format, all-photo
periodical.
In September, Arbus begins teaching a fall semester of photography
at Cooper Union in New York City.
During October, Arbus participates in a recorded interview with
Studs Terkel for his book Hard Times (about the Great
Depression) under the pseudonym "Daisy Singer." In
the interview she discusses her memories of childhood.
Arbus travels to St. Croix to do another children's fashion
shoot in December. She takes Amy with her.
Arbus has work published in Sunday Times Magazine (London), Harper's
Bazaar, Esquire,
and New York.
One of Diane's photographs is used for the cover of
the book Shake It for the World, Smartass by
Seymour Krim.
Among the famous Arbus photographs taken this year are:
A family on their lawn one Sunday in Westchester,
N.Y. 1968
A naked man being a woman, N.Y.C. 1968
Coretta Scott King
(for Esquire)
Eugene McCarthy (for Esquire)
Muscle man contestant, N.Y.C. 1968
Four people at a gallery opening, N.Y.C. 1968
Superstar at home, N.Y.C. 1968
Tokyo Rose (for Esquire)
Topless dancer in her dressing room, San Francisco,
Cal. 1968 (photograph
taken in 1967, printed in 1968)
Viva (for New York
magazine)
Woman with a veil on Fifth Avenue, N.Y.C. 1968
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1969
In early April Arbus travels to Texas to photograph for Sports
Illustrated.
After securing permission by the proper authorities, Arbus begins
photographing at mental institutions in New Jersey. This marks
the beginning of Arbus' Untitled series that she will
work on for the rest of her life. She mentions a desire to publish
a book of photographs of the retarded. She doesn't, but her
daughter Doon does and Diane Arbus: Untitled appears
in 1995. A lot of her framing of the crowds
and people in these shots are strongly reminiscent of the street
photography she did in the late 50s and early 60s (see books
and media section for more details about Diane Arbus:
Untitled).
In mid-April, Arbus goes to St. Petersburg, Florida to photograph
residents of nursing homes and retirees for the Social Security
Administration. She also travels to Palm Beach to photograph
Charles Atlas and then gives a speech at the University of Florida,
Gainesville.
In April, Arbus travels to London for photography assignments
and private projects (including Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and
the English biker gang, the Rockers).
Before moving to California to pursue his acting career, Allan
Arbus legally divorces Diane. He designs a new darkroom for her, since
he is closing down his photography studio. Diane now has to
process her own film instead of Allan's assistants doing it
for her. She will also start using an Ektamatic Processor to
make rough prints of photographs instead of printing by hand.
In July, Diane gives a lecture to nuns at Manhattanville College
in Purchase, New York for $100.
Galleries and museums begin buying prints of her work including
the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Bibliotheque Nationale
de France.
Arbus shoots nine portraits of U.S. feminist leaders,
including Betty Friedan, for The London Sunday Times Magazine.
In September, Arbus starts seeing psychiatrist Dr. Helen Boigon.
The doctor doesn't believe in prescribing anti-depressants to
patients.
Arbus starts printing her photographs with colorless, irregular
borders.
In December, Arbus is commissioned by Gay Matthaei to photograph
her upscale family during the Christmas holidays. The resulting
contact sheets (owned by the Matthaeis) become the basis for
the Diane Arbus: Family Albums photograph
exhibition and catalog book launched in 2003.
(see books and media section for
more details about this book)
On Christmas day, Arbus flies to Barbados to photograph in color
a children's fashion assignment for The New York Times Magazine.
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Arbus has work published in Sunday Times Magazine
(London), Harper's Bazaar, The New York Times Magazine
Part II, Holiday, Sports Illustrated,
Creative Camera, Nova, Harper's
Magazine and Esquire.
Among the famous Arbus photographs taken this year are:
Charles Atlas [for Sunday
Times Magazine (London)]
Elderly couple on a park bench, N.Y.C. 1969
Jacqueline Susann and
Irving Mansfield (for Harper's Bazaar magazine)
Jorge Luis Borges in
Central Park, N.Y.C. 1969 (for Harper's Bazaar magazine)
Man in an Indian headdress, N.Y.C. 1969
Transvestite at her birthday party, N.Y.C. 1969
Woman on a park bench on a sunny day, N.Y.C. 1969
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" 'My work doesn't do it for me anymore,' she (Diane) repeated. And, listening to her, I thought this must be the most devastating thing to happen to an artist—to lose one's need to discover. What does it mean when suddenly, inexplicably, we're on longer nourished by our work and it gives us nothing back?"
- Nancy Grossman
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Among the famous Arbus mental institution photographs
taken from 1970–71 are:
Untitled (1) 1970–71
Untitled (2) 1970–71
Untitled (3) 1970–71
Untitled (4) 1970–71
Untitled (5) 1970–71
Untitled (6) 1970–71
Untitled (7) 1970–71
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Westbeth
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1970
In January, Diane along with Amy and Doon (who eventually finds
her own apartment elsewhere), move into a prized duplex apartment
at Westbeth, a subsidized artists' apartment complex in the
West Village.
John Szarkowski arranges for Arbus to be hired as a researcher
for a projected upcoming photography exhibition at MoMA, "The
Iconography of the Daily News."
Arbus teaches part time at the Rhode Island School of Design
during the spring.
Arbus begins work on her limited edition A Box Of Ten Photographs
portfolio packaged in a clear plastic box that can also be used
as a display frame (the box is designed by Marvin Israel). She
envisions producing 50 signed, titled-sheeted and annotated
boxed sets that would sell for $1,000 apiece. She hopes to sell
them to museums and collectors. She sells 4 portfolios in her
lifetime. Photographer Richard Avedon buys two; one as a gift
for director Mike Nichols and an additional set for himself
(for whom Arbus includes an additional print, Masked woman
in a wheelchair, Pa. 1970). Artist Jasper Johns buys another.
The late magazine art director Bea Feitler (1938 – 1982)
also purchases one—Arbus includes an extra photo,
A woman with her baby monkey, N.J. 1971 (Ms. Feitler's
boxed set is now in the collection of the Smithsonian American
Art Museum). After her death Arbus Estate printer Neil Selkirk,
completes the 50 remaining sets. These sets did not include
any original Arbus prints—those were designated as artist's
proofs by the Estate.
The portfolio's prints are:
A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y. 1970
Boy with a straw hat waiting to march in a pro-war parade, N.Y.C.
1967
A family on their lawn one Sunday in Westchester, N.Y. 1968
The King and Queen of a Senior Citizens' Dance, N.Y.C. 1970
Mexican dwarf in his hotel room in N.Y.C. 1970
Xmas tree in a living room in Levittown, L.I. 1963
Identical twins, Roselle, N.J. 1967
Retired man and his wife at home in a nudist camp one morning,
N.J. 1963
A young man in curlers at home on West 20th Street, N.Y.C. 1966
A young Brooklyn family going for a Sunday outing, N.Y.C. 1966
In late June, Arbus flies to Minneapolis to attend a Richard
Avedon retrospective designed by Marvin Israel at the Minneapolis
Institute of Art. Doon also attends the event.
In late July Arbus travels to Maryland to photograph carnival
performers for Esquire. Some of her most famous photographs
come from this assignment even though Esquire never
published the work.
Arbus flies to California to photograph singles communities
for The London Sunday Times Magazine. She also travels
to Detroit to photograph the Reverend Albert B. Cleage, Jr.
for Essence magazine.
In October Arbus receives The Robert Leavitt Award from American
Society of Magazine Photographers for special achievement. She
attends the ceremony and gives a speech.
After being loaned the newly released 6x7 Pentax camera from
Hiro, Arbus herself decides to purchase one. It is a 2 1/4 x
2 3/4 format camera. To pay for it, she decides to teach a photography
masters class at Westbeth. This course will eventually become
known as "the last class."
Arbus has work published in Nova, The New
York Times Magazine Part II, and Essence.
Among the famous Arbus photographs taken this year are:
A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx,
N.Y. 1970
Albino sword swallower at a carnival, Md. 1970
Girl in her circus costume, Md. 1970
Hermaphrodite and a dog in a carnival trailer, Md. 1970
Masked woman in a wheelchair, Pa. 1970.
Mexican dwarf in his hotel room, N.Y.C. 1970
Tattooed man at a carnival, Md. 1970
The King and Queen of a Senior Citizens' Dance,
N.Y.C. 1970
Transvestite at a drag ball, N.Y.C. 1970
Two men dancing at a drag ball, N.Y.C. 1970
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1971
A very mercurial Diane hosts "the last class" at Westbeth
from early January to late March. One of her students, who is
Japanese, tape-records the lectures in order to understand English
better. Portions of the transcripts from these tapes are used
the Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph book.
Time-Life Books hires her to shoot photographs revolving around
the theme of love. A woman with her baby monkey, N.J. 1971
comes from this project.
Arbus prints and sends selected photographs for an upcoming
photography show (The Portrait in Photography) at the
Fogg Gallery, Harvard University.
In late February Arbus travels to Germany with Marvin Israel
for an opening of an exhibition of his work. While there, she
photographs Bertolt Brecht's widow, Helen Weigel for Harper's
Bazaar.
Arbus submits a grant project proposal entitled "The Quiet
Minorities" to the Ingram Merrill Foundation. She wants
to photograph diverse sub cultures for a book. She doesn't receive
the grant.
In May, Artforum magazine publishes an Arbus photo
on its cover and five other selections from her A Box Of
Ten Photographs portfolio.
Curator Walter Hopps of the Corcoran Gallery in Washington,
D.C. persuades Arbus to show her work at the Venice Biennale
(in Italy) in the summer of 1972. She is the first American
photographer ever asked to participate. The work is shown posthumously.
In early June, Arbus attends a twins convention in Grand Rapids,
Michigan.
In mid-June, Arbus goes to Washington D.C. to photograph the
wedding of President Richard Nixon's daughter, Tricia, for The
London Times. The photographs aren't published.
Arbus gives a slide show lecture at the soon-to-open International
Center of Photography in Manhattan. Her presentation is tape-recorded
and eventually is used for quotes and in posthumous reenactments
of her lectures.
Marvin Israel has Arbus assist him working on a sculpture of
a figure with slit wrists.
In late June Arbus teaches (along with Garry Winogrand and Lee
Friedlander) an
advanced class in photographic portraiture for a week at Hampshire
College in Amherst, Massachusetts. She doesn't enjoy doing it.
On July 10th, Arbus attends the Federation of the Handicapped
annual picnic.
Howard Nemerov dines with Diane. At the meal she says, "You
know, I'm going to be remembered for being Howard Nemerov's
sister."
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Door
to Diane Arbus'
Westbeth apartment |
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Diane Arbus commits suicide on July 26 or July 27 by taking
an overdose of barbiturates and slashing her wrists. Her decomposing
corpse is found in her bathtub at Westbeth by Marvin Israel
on July 28th. An entry in her journal on July 26 reads "the
last supper."
After an autopsy, a funeral is held in early August at Frank
E. Campbell's Funeral Chapel. Arbus' closest family members
are in attendance.
Diane Arbus lived 48 years.
Arbus has work published in Sunday Times Magazine
(London), Artforum, Essence, Esquire
and Time Life Books.
Among the famous Arbus photographs taken this year are:
A woman with her baby monkey, N.J. 1971
A young man and his girlfriend with hot dogs in the park,
N.Y.C. 1971
Feminist in her hotel room, N.Y.C. 1971
A woman passing, N.Y.C. 1971
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The Gray
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Death:
There has been much speculation as to the causes that led Arbus
to take her own life. It seems that there were many contributing
factors that came to a head that weekend: a personal and family
history of depression, not taking anti-depression medications,
not being as in-demand for magazine work unlike previous times,
not receiving any new art grants, her favorite camera film being
discontinued, a growing fear of aging and not having her close
friends or family in town the night she took her life could
all be factors.
Diane once wrote, as a teenage schoolgirl, that she had visions
of being "a great sad artist." For better and
worse, she was.
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Diane Arbus 1969
photograph by Mary Ellen Mark |
2007
The Estate of Diane Arbus gives the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Estimated value: $5 million.
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Diane Arbus, interview with Studs Terkel, 1968.Diane Arbus,
interview with Studs Terkel, 1968.Diane Arbus,
interview with Studs Terkel, 1968.Diane Arbus, pps. 8-9, Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph, Aperture 1972.Diane Arbus, p.13, Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph, Aperture 1972.Diane Arbus, Museum
of Modern Art artist file, October 5, 1964. Nancy Grossman, pps. 318-319,
Diane Arbus: A Biography, 1984.Howard Nemerov, p. 318,
Diane Arbus: A Biography, 1984. Diane Arbus, 1940 Senior Class Autobiography, Fieldston School. Carol Noble, "A Big Gift for the Met: The Arbus Archives," New York Times, December 17, 2007 online edition. |
For more details regarding the life of Diane Arbus, please see:
Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph
Diane Arbus: Magazine Work
Diane Arbus: A Biography
Diane Arbus: Revelations
Please see books and media section of this web site for more details and ordering information.
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