Diane Arbus (1923-1971)/Neil Selkirk (B. 1947)

signed, titled, dated, annotated, and editioned '40/75' by the photographer's daughter, Doon Arbus, in ink, and stamped on the reverse, framed, Buhl Collection and Guggenheim Museum exhibition labels on the reverse, 1962, printed later by Neil Selkirk

Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, 1995

New York, Guggenheim Museum, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection, June - September 2004, and 4 other international venues through 2007 (see Appendix 1)

West Palm Beach, Norton Museum of Art, A Show of Hands: Photographs and Sculpture from the Buhl Collection, January - March 2008

Seoul, South Korea, Daelim Contemporary Art Museum, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection (Asian tour), March - May 2009, and 2 other Asian venues through 2011 (see Appendix 1)

Jennifer Blessing, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection (Guggenheim Foundation, 2004), pp. 90 and 200 (this print)

Diane Arbus (Aperture, 1972), unpaginated

Diane Arbus: Revelations (New York, 2003), pp. 104-05, 164, and 208

Peter Galassi, American Photography, 1890-1965, from The Museum of Modern Art (The Museum of Modern Art, 1995), p. 243

Susan Kismaric, American Children: Photographs from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art (The Museum of Modern Art, 1980), p. 20

Photography/Venice '79 (New York, 1979), p. 336

This photograph, on double-weight paper with a surface sheen, is in generally excellent condition. Upon very close examination in high raking light, a small, sharp handling crease, which does not appear to break the emulsion, is visible near the right edge of the image. The upper and lower margins are lightly rippled.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Arbus made the image of this unforgettable, toy grenade-wielding boy, whose seething exasperation is evident in his claw-like hands and maniacal expression, in New York’s Central Park in the spring or summer months of 1962.  It was around this time that Arbus abandoned her 35mm Nikon SLR in favor of the 2 ¼ twin-lens Rolleiflex that was used for this shot. Tom Southall points out, in Diane Arbus: Magazine Work, that the larger camera gave her not only more clarity and definition in the negative, but also a new, square format that would become her signature style in the years to come.  And more importantly, this was a camera that was held at waist level, allowing for crucial eye contact with her subjects (p. 159).

In October 1964, Child with a Toy Hand Grenade was one of seven Arbus images acquired by John Szarkowski for The Museum of Modern Art’s collection. These were not only the first Arbus photographs to enter MoMA’s collection, but also the collection of any museum (Revelations, p. 171).  Of the seven photographs in this very early acquisition, Child with a Toy Hand Grenade would become the most memorable of the group, which also included Miss Venice Beach and Retired Man and His Wife, Nudist Camp, neither of which pack the visual wallop of this image.

Child with a Toy Hand Grenade was selected by John Szarkowski in 1967 as one of thirty Arbus photographs for inclusion in the groundbreaking New Documents show at The Museum of Modern Art, the only significant exhibition of Arbus’s work during her lifetime.  This landmark exhibition showcased the work of three contemporary photographers—Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, and Garry Winogrand—and charted a radical new direction in what had previously been thought of as ‘documentary photography.’