Diane Arbus facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Diane Arbus
Photograph by Allan Arbus (a film test), c. 1949
Born	Diane Nemerov (1923-03-14)March 14, 1923 New York City, U.S.
Died	July 26, 1971(1971-07-26) (aged 48) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Photographer
Spouse(s)	Allan Arbus ​ ​ (m. 1941; div. 1969)​
Partner(s)	Marvin Israel (1959–1971; her death)
Children	Doon Amy
Relatives	Howard Nemerov (brother) Alexander Nemerov (nephew) Frank Russek (grandfather)

Diane Arbus (born Diane Nemerov; March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971) was a famous American photographer. She took pictures of many different people, including children, families, and older adults. She often photographed them in their everyday surroundings, like their homes, on the street, or in parks. Diane Arbus is known for showing all kinds of people in her photos. Her work helped people understand and accept different groups in society.

During her life, Diane Arbus became well-known. Her photographs were published in popular magazines such as Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, and Artforum. In 1963, she received a special award called a Guggenheim Fellowship for her photography project. She received this award again in 1966. John Szarkowski, a director at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, greatly supported her work. He included her photos in his important 1967 exhibit called New Documents.

After her death in 1971, Diane Arbus made history. In 1972, she became the first photographer to have her work shown at the Venice Biennale, a major art exhibition. Her photographs there were described as "extremely powerful and very strange."

The first big show of Arbus's work happened at MoMA in 1972. This show attracted more visitors than any other exhibit in MoMA's history at that time. Millions of people saw her traveling exhibitions between 1972 and 1979. The book that went with the exhibition, Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph, has been printed continuously since 1972.

Early Life and Family

Diane Nemerov was born in New York City to David and Gertrude Nemerov. Her parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia. They owned a department store on Fifth Avenue called Russeks. Because her family was wealthy, Diane did not experience the difficulties of the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Her parents were often busy, so maids and governesses mostly raised Diane and her siblings. Her mother had a busy social life, and her father was focused on work. Diane's older brother, Howard Nemerov, became a famous poet. Her younger sister became a sculptor and designer.

Diane went to the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, a school that prepares students for college. In 1941, when she was 18, she married her childhood sweetheart, Allan Arbus. They had two daughters: Doon, who became a writer, and Amy, who became a photographer.

Diane and Allan worked together in commercial photography from 1946 to 1956. Even after Diane left the business to focus on her own art, Allan continued to support her work. They separated in 1959 but remained close friends. They even shared a darkroom where Allan's assistants helped process her photos. They divorced in 1969 when Allan moved to California to become an actor. He was well-known for playing Dr. Sidney Freedman on the TV show M*A*S*H.

Later, Diane Arbus began a relationship with art director Marvin Israel. He encouraged her creativity and supported her photography. She was also good friends with photographer Richard Avedon.

Becoming a Photographer

Identical Twins, Roselle, N.J. (1966–1967) at the National Gallery of Art in 2022

Allan Arbus gave Diane her first camera, a Graflex, shortly after they married. She took classes with photographer Berenice Abbott. In the early 1940s, Diane's father hired them to take pictures for his department store's advertisements.

In 1946, Diane and Allan started a commercial photography business called "Diane & Allan Arbus." Diane was the art director, and Allan was the photographer. She created ideas for their photo shoots and worked with the models. However, she became unhappy with this type of work. They took photos for magazines like Glamour and Vogue, even though they disliked the fashion world.

In 1956, Diane Arbus decided to focus on her own photography. She stopped working in commercial photography. She began studying with Lisette Model, who greatly inspired her. Model encouraged Arbus to truly "see" her subjects. Arbus learned from Model that "the more specific you are, the more general it'll be." This meant focusing on unique details could reveal universal truths.

By 1956, Arbus used a 35mm Nikon camera. She walked the streets of New York City, often meeting her subjects by chance. She was interested in how people presented themselves to the world. Critics believe her choice of subjects might have reflected her own feelings about identity. She often showed great understanding and kindness towards the people she photographed.

Around 1962, Arbus changed to a twin-lens reflex Rolleiflex camera. This camera produced more detailed, square-shaped images. In 1964, she also started using a Mamiyaflex camera with a flash.

Arbus's photography style was direct and simple. She often placed her subjects in the center of a square photo. She used a flash even in daylight, which made her subjects stand out from the background. This gave her photos a unique, almost dreamlike quality. She also built strong relationships with her subjects, sometimes photographing them over many years.

Even though her work was published and recognized, Diane Arbus found it hard to earn enough money from her art. At the time, collecting photographs as art was not common, and her prints sold for $100 or less. Money was a constant worry for her.

Throughout the 1960s, Arbus mainly supported herself by taking assignments for magazines. For example, she photographed poor farmers in South Carolina for Esquire magazine in 1968. She also photographed many famous people, including Mae West, Norman Mailer, and Anderson Cooper as a baby. As her fame as an artist grew, her magazine assignments decreased. She also taught photography at schools like the Parsons School of Design.

Late in her career, the Metropolitan Museum of Art wanted to buy some of her photos. They bought two for $75 each. She wrote to Allan Arbus, "So I guess being poor is no disgrace."

Starting in 1969, Arbus began a series of photos of people living in homes for those with developmental and intellectual disabilities in New Jersey. This series was later called Untitled. She visited these places many times for parties and dances. She described these photographs as "lyric and tender and pretty."

In May 1971, Artforum magazine published six of her photographs. This was a big step, as she was the first photographer to be featured in Artforum. This helped photography be seen as "serious" art.

Her first major exhibition was New Documents at the Museum of Modern Art in 1967. This show, which attracted almost 250,000 visitors, highlighted Arbus's interest in showing people's "frailties." It presented a new kind of documentary photography that aimed to understand life rather than change it.

In 2018, The New York Times published a special obituary for Arbus as part of a project about overlooked historical figures. The Smithsonian American Art Museum also held an exhibit of one of her special collections, A box of ten photographs.

Death

Diane Arbus passed away on July 26, 1971, at the age of 48.

Legacy

Art critic Robert Hughes wrote in 1972 that "Arbus's work has had such an influence on other photographers that it is already hard to remember how original it was." She is considered a very important figure in modern photography. Many see her as one of the most influential artists of the last century.

In 1972, Arbus was the first photographer to be included in the Venice Biennale. Her photographs were called "the overwhelming sensation of the American Pavilion."

The Museum of Modern Art held a large show of Arbus's work in late 1972. This show traveled across the United States and Canada until 1975, and it's estimated that over seven million people saw it. Another traveling show of her work went around the world from 1973 to 1979.

Doon Arbus and Marvin Israel created a book in 1972 called Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph. It included eighty of her photographs, along with her writings and interviews. This book was chosen as one of the most important photobooks in history between 2001 and 2004.

Neil Selkirk, a former student of Arbus, is the only person allowed to make prints of her work after her death.

A documentary film about Arbus's life and work, called Masters of Photography: Diane Arbus, was made in 1972. It included recordings from her photography classes.

In 1986, Diane Arbus was honored by being inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum.

From 2003 to 2006, a major traveling exhibition called Diane Arbus: Revelations was organized. This show included 180 of her photographs, along with letters, diaries, and cameras. The book that went with the exhibition shared many details from her personal writings, making it the first authorized story of her life.

In 2006, a fictional film called Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus was released, starring Nicole Kidman. Critics noted that the film presented a "fairytale" version of Arbus's life.

In 2007, the Metropolitan Museum of Art bought twenty of Arbus's photographs. They also received her archives, which included hundreds of early photos, negatives, and contact prints from 7,500 rolls of film.

Notable Photographs

Eddie Carmel, Jewish Giant, taken at Home with His Parents in the Bronx, New York, 1970

Some of Diane Arbus's most famous photographs include:

• Teenage Couple on Hudson Street, N.Y.C., 1963 – This photo shows two teenagers who look older than their age.
• Triplets in Their Bedroom, N.J. 1963 – Three girls sit together at the head of a bed.
• A Young Brooklyn Family Going for a Sunday Outing, N.Y.C. 1966 – This picture shows Richard and Marylin Dauria with their two children.
• A Young Man in Curlers at Home on West 20th Street, N.Y.C. 1966 – A close-up of a man with curlers in his hair, holding a cigarette. This photo caused strong reactions when first shown.
• Boy With a Straw Hat Waiting to March in a Pro-War Parade, N.Y.C. 1967 – A boy with an American flag and "Bomb Hanoi" and "God Bless America" buttons. The photo can make viewers feel both different from and sympathetic towards the boy.
• Identical Twins, Roselle, N.J. 1967 – Two young twin sisters, Cathleen and Colleen Wade, stand side by side. Their similar clothes show they are twins, but their faces show their individual personalities. This image was famously referenced in the movie The Shining.
• A Family on Their Lawn One Sunday in Westchester, N.Y. 1968 – A man and woman are sunbathing while a boy plays behind them.
• A Very Young Baby, N.Y.C. 1968 – A photo for Harper's Bazaar showing Gloria Vanderbilt's baby son, who grew up to be CNN anchorman Anderson Cooper.
• A Jewish Giant at Home with His Parents in The Bronx, N.Y. 1970 – This photo shows Eddie Carmel, known as the "Jewish Giant," standing with his much shorter parents. Arbus reportedly said about the mother's face, "You know how every mother has nightmares when she's pregnant that her baby will be born a monster?... I think I got that in the mother's face...."

Diane Arbus also created a special collection called A box of ten photographs. This was a portfolio of selected photos from 1963–1970, presented in a clear Plexiglas box. She planned to make 50 of these, but only completed eight. After her death, Neil Selkirk continued printing to complete the planned edition.

Exhibitions and Collections

Diane Arbus's work has been shown in many important art exhibitions around the world.

Notable Solo Exhibitions

• 1967: New Documents. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
• 1972: Diane Arbus Portfolio: 10 Photos. Venice Biennale.
• 1972–1975: Diane Arbus. Museum of Modern Art, New York, and traveling to many other museums.
• 1973–79: Diane Arbus: Retrospective. Seibu Museum, Tokyo, and traveling worldwide.
• 2003–2006: Diane Arbus: Revelations. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and traveling to major museums globally.
• 2016–2017: diane arbus: in the beginning. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
• 2018: Diane Arbus: A Box of ten photographs. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

Collections

Arbus's photographs are part of the permanent collections of many well-known museums and art institutions.

Images for kids

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  Photograph by Allan Arbus (a film test), c. 1949

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  Identical Twins, Roselle, N.J. (1966–1967) at the National Gallery of Art in 2022

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  Eddie Carmel, Jewish Giant, taken at Home with His Parents in the Bronx, New York, 1970

See also

In Spanish: Diane Arbus para niños