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 Diane
Arbus photography exhibition, book draw from Spencer
Museum
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Diane Arbus, Their numbers
were picked out of a hat. They were just chosen
King and Queen of a Senior Citizens dance in NYC.
Yetta Granaf is 72 and Charles Fahrer is 79. They
have never met before. 1970. Gift of Esquire,
Inc., Spencer Museum of Art.
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Photographer Diane Arbus (1923-1971) captured
provocative and unsettling portraits of modern Americans
that were difficult to put aside. Her unflinchingly
direct and often controversial photographs are enjoying
renewed attention in the art world.
An Arbus show that opened Jan. 12 at New York University's
Grey Art Gallery and will travel to Lawrence on a national
tour, shows the influence of KU's Spencer Museum of
Art.
Organized by the Spencer Museum and the Mount Holyoke
College Art Museum, "Diane Arbus: Family Albums"
holds at its heart more than 200 previously unseen photographs,
both contact sheets and finished prints, which Arbus
in December 1969 made for a private commission. Also
on view are images Arbus shot on assignment for Esquire
magazine, including pictures of the families of Ricky
Nelson, Jayne Mansfield and Ogden Reid.
The exhibition catalog has received widespread critical
acclaim. The book features essays by the two curators:
John Pultz, KU associate professor of art history and
the Spencer's curator of photography, and Anthony Lee,
associate professor of art history at Mount Holyoke.
"Family Albums" will be on view at the Spencer
from Oct. 16 to Jan. 26, 2005.
Press coverage of "Diane Arbus: Family Albums"
has included:
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New York Times review, Jan. 9, 2004, as the lead
story in the Weekend Fine Arts/Leisure section
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New York Review of Books, Jan. 15, 2004, review
by Janet Malcolm
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New Yorker magazine, Oct. 13, 2003, review by Judith
Thurman
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New York Times Book Review, Dec. 7, 2003, holiday
list of best photography books of 2003
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Art and Auction, December 2003 issue, on Peter
Plagens's list of the 10 best-and best looking-art
books of 2003
The exhibition originally opened in South Hadley, Mass.,
before going to NYU's Grey Art Gallery. "Family
Albums" will travel to Portland, Maine; Lawrence,
Kan.; Portland, Ore.; Athens, Ga.; and Winston-Salem,
N.C.
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