Diane Arbus - Photographs New York Wednesday, October 12, 2022 | Phillips
  • In February of 1964, Diane Arbus traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana for Mardi Gras celebrations throughout the city. While the venue seemed rife with possibility for finding the subjects that Arbus gravitated towards, surprisingly the trip yielded just one photograph that Arbus would go on to print: a portrait of Judy Young that she titled Lady Bartender At Home With Souvenir Dog, New Orleans, LA, 1964. 

     

    The format of this print highlights a pivotal moment in Arbus’ career where she transitioned from a 35mm camera to a medium-format camera. While the size and hard edges are indicative of her earlier work, the square format is a hallmark of the style that she would become known for. Beginning in 1965, Arbus began printing her photographs with black borders and, later in the decade, soft edges, helping to further identify this print as being made before this era.

    • Provenance

      Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

    • Literature

      Arbus, Sussman, Phillips, Selkirk and Rosenheim, Diane Arbus: Revelations, p. 168, pp. 267-270
      Aperture, Diane Arbus, n.p.

    • 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. 

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Lady Bartender At Home With Souvenir Dog, New Orleans, LA

1964
Gelatin silver print, printed 1964-1965.
7 7/8 x 7 1/8 in. (20 x 18.1 cm)
Signed, titled, dated, annotated 'Judy Young' by the photographer in ink, stamped 'a diane arbus print', signed by Doon Arbus, Executor, in ink, copyright credit and reproduction limitation stamps on the verso. Accompanied by a letter of authentication from the Estate of Diane Arbus.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$50,000 - 70,000 

Sold for $63,000

Contact Specialist

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


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Worldwide Head of Photographs and Deputy Chairwoman, Americas
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Photographs

New York Auction 12 October 2022