American photographer Slim Aarons captured the 20th century’s international jet set — U.S. socialites, European royalty, Hollywood stars — at play in sun-kissed locales like Monaco, Saint-Tropez and Palm Beach, as well as other luxurious settings around the globe.
Committed to eschewing makeup and artificial lighting, Aarons created images that are at once candid and polished, combining the relaxed posture of his subjects, who trusted him to document their lives, with the visual sharpness of a seasoned art director. Having gotten his start taking pictures for the U.S. military magazine Yank during World War II, he contributed over the course of his career to Life, Town and Country and Holiday magazines and published several books.
Aarons was born in Manhattan in 1916. He joined the army at 18, shooting military maneuvers at West Point before serving as a combat photographer, for which he was awarded a Purple Heart. After the war, he moved to California and began snapping socialites and movie stars.
In the 1950s, Aarons opened a bureau for Life magazine in Rome, where he took pictures capturing the postwar scene. He was always able to win the trust of his elite subjects, who saw him as close to a peer, rather than a paparazzo.
In a 2002 interview with The Independent, Aarons remarked, ''I knew everyone. They would invite me to one of their parties because they knew I wouldn't hurt them. I was one of them.'' This access allowed him to document the rich and famous with their guard down, reading newspapers and magazines, talking on the phone, relaxing by the pool, and chatting with friends. The 1957 photograph The Kings of Hollywood, for example, which won him wide acclaim, shows Clark Gable, Van Heflin, Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart laughing together as they celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Many of Aarons’s best-known images involve games and sports. In the 1972 Poolside Backgammon, two young women play the board game of the title against the backdrop of a majestic Acapulco estate. In 1958’s Cannes Watersports, a couple attempts to glide across the Golfe de la Napoule on Jet Skis, one expertly and one hanging on for dear life. And in Penthouse Pool, shot in Athens in 1961, a young woman wearing a yellow bathing cap smiles coyly at the camera, surrounded by friends and brightly colored seat cushions, with the Acropolis faintly visible in the background.
Among Aarons’s books are 1974’s A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life, and its 2003 sequel, Once Upon a Time. His final book, A Place in the Sun, was published in 2005, one year before his death.
Find a collection of vintage Slim Aarons photography on 1stDibs.
Sailboat In San Diego, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Mrs Cuddihy Perry, her son, and Mrs George H. Gentry with a sailboat on a beach in San Diego, Califor...
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Sports Car Couple, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features John Bryant with his AC sports car in Kinnerton Place, London SW1. His passenger is Margaret McAulay. ...
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Keep Your Cool, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Carmen Alvarez enjoying a game of backgammon with Frank 'Brandy' Brandstetter in a swimming pool in Ac...
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Party At The Playboy Mansion, Chicago, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s lifestyle photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests of American publisher Hugh Hefner enjoying themselves at a party being held at th...
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Poolside Friendship, 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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Inga Lindgren And Poodles, New York, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Swedish model Inga Lindgren, wife of Argentinian finance minister Ceferino Alonso Irigoyen, wears designs by Vera Stewart with her standard poodles Aja...
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
The St. Regis, New York, Estate Edition, Event Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s event photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an aerial view of diners at the St. Regis, New York. This is an estate stamped and hand numbe...
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Skiers In St. Moritz, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photo
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers in St Moritz, Switzerland, March 1963. This is an estate stamped and hand number...
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Saint Tropez Beach - Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Type Photography Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Saint Tropez Beach by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. "Saint Tropez Beach" is a b...
Photographic Paper, Color, C Print, Digital
George Cameron (1959) Limited Estate Stamped - Grande XL
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
George Cameron (1959) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) Cameron sits on a tiger pelt in the trophy room of Laddie Sanford’s Palm Beach ...
Color, Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons, Palm Beach Debutantes (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Young debutantes in Palm Beach, Florida, 1968. Slim Aarons Palm Beach Debutantes Chromogenic Lambda print Slim Aarons Estate Edition Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, wo...
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Dining al Fresco on Capri, 1980 - Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Type Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Dining al Fresco on Capri, 1980 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. 'Dining al Fres...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Digital
Gasthof Post Pool, 1979 - Estate Stamped Limited Edition C-Type Color Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Gasthof Post Pool, 1979 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. 'Gasthof Post Pool, 1979' is a Limited Edition Estate S...
C Print, Photographic Paper, Color, Digital
Fan Mail, 1950 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Limited Edition C-Type Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Fan Mail, 1950 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. Please note that as part of the Estate's Premium Collection, the ...
Photographic Paper, Color, C Print, Digital
Dining In Gstaad, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers at a ski lodge at Gstaad, Switzerland, March 1961. This is an estate stam...
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Slim Aarons Palm Beach Society (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Jim Kimberly and his wife (far left) and friends with his white sports car and white boats moored on Lake Worth. A Palm Beach socialite, Kimberly acts as Honorary Consul of Jordan. A...
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Slim Aarons 'Palm Beach Society' Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Jim Kimberly and his wife (far left) and friends with his white sports car and white boats moored on Lake Worth. A Palm Beach socialite, Kimberly acts as Honorary Consul of Jordan. April 1968. (Slim Aarons / Getty Images) Slim Aarons Palm Beach Society...
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Catherine Wilke, 1980 by Slim Aarons - Estate Stamped 16 x 20 C-Type Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Catherine Wilke, 1980 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Premium Collection Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later Please note that as part of the Estate's...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Digital
Les Sophores, Saint-Tropez, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Janine Bril in the garden of Les Sophores, her villa in Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera. This is ...
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Winter Wear, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Manuela Boraomanero (left) and Emanuela Beghelli holiday in the Italian ski resort of Cortina d'Amp...
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Snowmass Village, Colorado, 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 women in colourful hats at an apres ski party in Snowmass Village, in Pitkin County, Colorado, in M...
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Christmas Swim - Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Type Print, 16 x 20
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Christmas Swim by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. 'Christmas Swim' is a Limited Edition Estate Stamped Digital C-T...
Digital, Color, Photographic Paper, C Print
Eden Hartford, Hollywood, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features actress Eden Hartford, sister to Dee, in the Hollywood home she shared with her husband, co...
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Donna Domitilla Ruspoli - Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Type Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Donna Domitilla Ruspoli by Slim Aarons 16" x 16" print on 16 x 20 paper. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. "Donna Domitilla Ruspoli" is a Limited...
Photographic Paper, Color, C Print, Digital
Kennedy And Friends, Jamaica, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Senator John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963), Shirley Rogan Ellis, and Betty LoSavio at Montego Bay Airpo...
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Villa Del Balbianello, Italy, 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 the Italian mountain climber and explorer Guido Monzino (1928-1988) and four people relaxing on the t...
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Apres Ski, Gstaad, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Winter Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Apres Ski, Gstaad, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Portrait Photography This early 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of women r...
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Sunbathing in Capri, 1974 - Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Type Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Sunbathing in Capri, 1974 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. "Sunbathing in Capri, 1974" is a beautiful Limited Edi...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Digital
$4,200
Tullio Abbate, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Tullio Abbate, of Abbate Boats, at the back of yacht as it is moored at a property on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, in June 1983. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authe...
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Dimitris Kritsas, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Dimitris Kritsas, a fashionable young couturier, posing among the gleaming Doric columns of the templ...
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Sea Drive, 1967 - Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Type Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Sea Drive, 1967 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. Please note that as part of the Estate's Premium Collection, th...
Photographic Paper, Color, C Print, Digital
Dali And Gala (1955) Limited Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Dali And Gala (1955) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) Spanish artist Salvador Dali (1904 – 1989) enjoying a cup of coffee with his wife Gala (1894 – 1982) on a terra...
Black and White, Archival Pigment
Keep Your Cool by Slim Aarons - Signed 16" x 20" Estate Stamped C-Type Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Keep Your Cool - Backgammon Players Swimming Pool France by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. Keep Your Cool is a Lim...
Photographic Paper, Digital, C Print, Color
Carriage Awaits (1977) Limited Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Carriage Awaits (1977) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) Mrs. Kenneth Appleton Ives with a horse and carriage outside her house in Bermuda, 1977. Additional Inform...
Color, Archival Pigment
$1,800
French Holiday, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers in France in August 1969. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered edition of 150 wi...
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$4,200
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 two young women, one wearing a kaftan, stepping onto a yacht on the waterfront at Saint-Tropez, Franc...
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Pousada dos Buzios, 1975 - Limited Edition Slim Aarons Estate Stamped C-Type
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Pousada dos Buzios, 1975 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. 'Pousada dos Buzios' is a Limited Edition Estate Stamped Digital C-Type print by 20th Century American photographer Slim Aarons. Friends and acquaintances lying by the swimming pool at Pousada dos Buzios in Brazil are photographed by Slim Aarons. The man pictured is Italian restaurateur Stefano Monti. Just east of Rio de Janiero city is Buzios, formerly a quiet little fishing village and since the 1960s a bustling, animated, and absolutely upscale seaside resort, littered with fine restaurants, boutiques, and posh pousadas. Pictured here is one such pousada. Also found in Portugal, pousadas offer a blend between luxury hotel and intimate family-run inn. Slim Aarons also photographed "Buzios" which is available in the gallery. Both "Pousada dos Buzios" and "Buzios" were taken in the same place, but spaced years apart. Both 'Buzios' and 'Pousada dos Buzios' were taken in this location. The similarities between 'Buzios' and 'Pousada dos Buzios' are most evident in the subjects: the female sunbather wearing a black and white swimsuit with the straw sunhat appears to be in both scenes, and the female sunbather with short hair wearing the leopard print bikini appears similarly in both scenes. This image from August 1975...
Photographic Paper, Color, C Print, Digital
$3,000
Skiing In St. Moritz, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1980s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Countess Jan Bonde in the Palace Hotel sleigh on Lake St. Moritz, Switzerland. This is an estate ...
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Decked In Finery, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
An unknown guest at a New Year's Eve party held at the Romanoff Restaurant in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and s...
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Tennis in The Bahamas, 1957 - Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Type Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Tennis in The Bahamas, 1957 by Slim Aarons 16 x 16" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. "Tennis in the Bahamas, 1957" is a beautiful Limited...
Photographic Paper, Color, C Print, Digital
$2,400
Skiing In St. Moritz, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1980s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Countess Jan Bonde in the Palace Hotel sleigh on Lake St. Moritz, Switzerland. This is an estate ...
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$2,400
Palm Beach Idyll, Florida, 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 couple sunbathing by the sea at Palm Beach, Florida. This is an estate stamped and hand ...
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Boating In Antigua (1961) Limited Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Boating In Antigua (1961) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) American actor Hugh O’Brian (left) hoists the sail on a dinghy, Antigua, West Indies, 1961. . Additiona...
Color, Archival Pigment
Sailing Dinghy, San Diego, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photo
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a boy and two girls lifting a sailing dinghy off its trailer in San Diego, California. This is an es...
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Sailing Dinghy, San Diego, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photo
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a boy and two girls lifting a sailing dinghy off its trailer in San Diego, California. This is an es...
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Working On Water, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features photographer Slim Aarons slouching in a chair with the Acropolis and its surroundings as a backdrop. T...
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$5,400
Nicholsons, New York, 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 Cafe Nicholson in New York. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered edition of 150 with a cert...
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'Golfing Pals' (1977) - Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Golfing Pals (1977) - Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print (Photo By Slim Aarons) At the 16th hole on Pebble Beach golf course, singer and film star Bi...
Color, C Print
Fan Mail (1955) Limited Estate Stamped - Giant
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Fan Mail (1955) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) Marilyn Monroe (1926 – 1962), wearing a red negligee trimmed with black lace, sorts out her fan mail shortly after ...
Color, Archival Pigment
Droulers and Daughters, Italy, 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 Roberta Droulers sitting with her daughters, Nathalie and Virginie, in the lobby of the Villa D'Este on...
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Bettina Graziani (1964) Limited Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Bettina Graziani (1964) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) French fashion model Bettina Graziani wading in the shallow waters of Costa Smeralda, pulling a small yacht...
Color, Archival Pigment
Dmitris Kritsas at the Temple to Poseidon, Sounion, Greece, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Dimitris Kritsas, a fashionable young couturier, poses among the gleaming Doric columns of the temple to Poseidon at Sounion, 1967 48 x 48 inches $4500 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 3...
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$4,200
Britt Ekland, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features film star Britt Ekland (Britt-Marie Eklund) in Porto Ercole, Italy. This...
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Dolores Guinness (1965) Limited Estate Stamped - Giant
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Dolores Guinness (1965) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) Dolores Guinness catches the sun’s last rays in Costa Smerelda, Sardinia 1965. Additional Information: U...
Color, Archival Pigment
Nice Pool (1955) Limited Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Nice Pool (1955) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) American writer C.Z. Guest (Mrs. F.C. Winston Guest, 1920 – 2003) and her son Alexander Michael Douglas Dudley Gues...
Color, Archival Pigment
Ricardo Bolliger, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Ricardo Bolliger sitting beside a swimming pool on the island of Capri, Italy, in September 1989. A ma...
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The Marlboroughs (1957) Limited Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
The Marlboroughs (1957) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) John Albert Edward Spencer Churchill, the 10th Duke of Marlborough (1897 – 1972) and his wife Mary relax on...
Color, Archival Pigment
Daddy Bear - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Limited Edition C-Type Photograph Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Daddy Bear by Slim Aarons 16" x 16" print on 16" x 20" paper. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. "Daddy Bear" is a Limit...
Photographic Paper, Color, C Print, Digital
Kings Of Hollywood, Beverly Hill, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features film stars (left to right) Clark Gable (1901 - 1960), Van Heflin (1910 - 1971), Gary Cooper...
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Slim Aarons 'Beauty and the Beast'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Lady Daphne Cameron (Mrs George Cameron) on a tiger skin rug in the trophy room at socialite Laddie Sanford's home in Palm Beach, Florida. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition o...
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