Diane Arbus

Tirage argentique d'époque. Signé et dédicacé For Harold au feutre noir dans la marge inférieure. Monté sous passe-partout.

De l'artiste à Harold Hayes, vers 1969
Par descendance à Judy Kessler Hayes, 1989
Sotheby's New York, Photographs, 5 octobre 1994, lot 59
Collection particulière, Hong Kong

Presumed Innocence: Photographic Perspectives of Children, Lincoln, DeCordova Museum/Sculpture Park, 2008, ill. pl. 51;
Weston Naef, Photographers of Genius at the Getty, Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004, ill. pl. 115;
Diane Arbus: Revelations, San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art/New York, Random House, 2003, ill. p. 265, p. 270-271 et p. 182;
Photography Past Forward: Aperture at 50, New York, Aperture, 2002, ill. p. 90;
Chorus of Light: Photographs from the Sir Elton John Collection, Atlanta, High Museum of Art/New York, Rizzoli, 2000, ill. p. 88;
Sarah Greenough, On the Art of Fixing a Shadow: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Photography, Washington, National Gallery of Art/Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, 1989, ill. p. 436, pl. 359;
Beaumont Newhall, The History of Photography from 1839 to the Present Date, New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1978, ill. p. 290;
New Photography USA, cat. expo., Londres, Photographers Gallery, 1972, ill. s.p.;
Diane Arbus, cat. expo., New York, The Museum of Modern Art/Aperture, 1972, ill. s.p. et couverture;
‘Five Photographs by Diane Arbus’, Artforum, mai 1971, ill. p. 69.
Diane Arbus, A Box of Ten Photographs, s.l., s.n., 1970, ill. s.p.

This silver print is in overall good condition. It is uniformly slightly yellowed. The dedication and signature are slightly faded. With light silvering along the edges and with remnants of what appears to be dried tape residue on the edges of the sheet away from the print. With very few minor creases along the edges away from the image. A crease of approx. 4 cm and one of approx. 2 cm in the upper right quadrant of the image; with a few retouched spots and and very light flowering overall, visible in raking light only.
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One of the most controversial photographers  of the 20^th Century and arguably the greatest female photographer of her generation in America, Diane Arbus was fascinated with conveying the inner emotional psyche of those who society marginalised: transgender people, nudists, circus performers, prostitutes, giants, midgets, triplets and twins. In short, people who were deemed less desirable, less attractive, or freakish, on the fringes of society.  Arbus was compelled to portray such persons as normal people, and not characters as they were often seen.  As the biographer Patricia Bosworth wrote ‘She was involved in the question of identity. Who am I and who are you? The twin image expresses the crux of that vision: normality in freakishness and the freakishness in normality’.   

In this portrait, Arbus photographed a pair of 7 year old identical twins whom she came across at a Christmas party for twins and triplets in the suburban town of Roselle, New Jersey, in 1967.  Dressed identically in corduroy dresses with  matching socks and headbands, these girls appear at first glance to be identical but on quick close inspection one discovers subtle differences: one girl has a slight frown and melancholic eyes, whilst the other has a more playful expression of lively eyes and faint grin. Standing side by side, these girls appear almost as one being, and yet you can see the tension in their hands and their confrontational pose.  Arbus has photographed them at an extreme close range, and at their eye-level,  with no other visible elements to distract us besides the street and wall behind them;  we are compelled to look at them and cannot escape their individual stares that hint at the psychological make-up of these two very different and yet very identical girls.  However, the more we look, wonder and question the differences and similarities of these girls, the less we are closer to knowing the truth.  As Arbus said, ‘A picture is a secret about a secret, the more it tells you the less you know’.

 This unconventional vision and humanity portrayed in her sitters set Arbus apart from her contemporaries, and her photographs continue to fascinate and compel collectors today.  Her photographs went on to influence writers, artists and film makers of her generation and beyond, securing not just her legacy but also the subjects who fascinated her.  

Dans ce portrait, Diane Arbus photographie deux jumelles de sept ans a une fête de Noël pour jumeaux et triplés dans la petite ville de Roselle, New Jersey, en 1967. Elles sont habillées de la même façon avec une robe en velours côtelé, des chaussettes et un bandeau. Elles semblent identiques en tout point de vue au premier regard, mais après une rapide inspection, nous pouvons découvrir de subtiles différences: l’une a l’air mélancolique, fronçant les sourcils tandis que l’autre a l’air plus joyeuse et souriante. Côte à côte, ces petites filles apparaissent comme un seul être et ainsi laissent entrevoir la tension dans leurs mains et leur posture. Arbus les a photographié de très près, au niveau de leurs yeux et évitant ainsi toute distraction extérieure ; nous sommes comme hypnotisés et incapables de quitter leur regard qui indique la dimension psychologique de ces deux très différentes et à la fois identiques fillettes. Néanmoins, plus nous regardons et questionnons les différences et similarités, plus nous nous éloignons de la vérité. Comme le disait Arbus: « Une photographie est un secret sur un secret. Plus elle vous en dit, moins vous en savez. » (Diane Arbus, ‘Five Photographs by Diane Arbus’, in Artforum, mai 1971, p. 64-69.)

L’un des photographes les plus controversés du XXe siècle et sans doute la plus célèbre de sa génération aux Etats-Unis, Diane Arbus s’est faite porte-parole de la chose psychologique chez ceux que la société a voulu marginaliser: transsexuels, naturistes, prostitués, géants, nains, triplets ou jumeaux. En résumé, les personnes jugées moins désirables, moins attirantes ou étranges, à l’écart de la société. Arbus s’est efforcée de portraiturer ces gens comme étant « normaux », et non des créatures comme c’est souvent le cas. Comme l’écrit sa biographe, Patricia Bosworth: «Elle s’était impliquée dans les questions d’identité. Qui suis-je et qui êtes-vous ? L’image des Twins reflète le cœur de sa vision: la normalité dans l’étrange et l’étrange dans la normalité.»

Cette vision peu conventionnelle et l’humanité résurgente de ses modèles ont fait de Diane Arbus une figure à part de l’histoire de la photographie et ses photographies continuent aujourd’hui de fasciner les collectionneurs. Ses œuvres ont influencé des écrivains, des artistes et des réalisateurs à travers plusieurs générations lui permettant d’immortaliser son œuvre mais surtout la cause qu’elle défend.

"Je pense vraiment qu’il y a des choses que personne ne verrait si je ne les photographiais pas." (Diane Arbus, New York, Aperture, 1972.)