The Redwood Library & Athenæum and Getty Images Announce Upcoming Summer Exhibition: Slim Aarons: Newport Days
Jul 10, 2024
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New York – July 10, 2024: The Redwood Library & Athenæum, in partnership with Getty Images, have today announced Slim Aarons: Newport Days, a new and original exhibition of photographs by the renowned lifestyle photographer Slim Aarons (1916‑2006). The exhibition, which is being hosted at the Redwood Library & Athenæum in Newport, Rhode Island, was produced by the two organizations, along with support from Newport Curates. Shawn Waldron, Curator of Print Sales and Exhibitions at Getty Images, led the curatorial effort with Sam Bolton of Newport Curates. The exhibition features dozens of previously unseen photos from Aarons’ extensive archive.
Opening on July 11, 2024, Slim Aarons: Newport Days will be open to the public through December 15, 2024. An evening panel discussion about the photographer and his work is planned for August 7, 2024.
Aarons began his career as a WWII combat photographer and returned from the front lines disgusted by the horrors of war. Instead, Aarons vowed to capture “attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places.” For the next four decades, Aarons traveled the globe on freelance assignments for LIFE, Holiday, Town & Country, and Travel + Leisure while establishing himself as the ultimate chronicler of the post‑war beau monde.
Waldron, who has published two Slim Aarons monographs and manages the Slim Aarons Archive at Getty Images, said, “Getty Images is honored to be collaborating with the Redwood Library to bring Slim Aarons to Newport and show a highly curated selection of well‑known works alongside future classics from Slim’s extensive archives.”
Aarons two best‑known photographs, Kings of Hollywood (1957) and Poolside Gossip (1970), are regarded as icons of celebrity portraiture and mid‑century modern style, respectively. His 1974 book A Wonderful Time, a rare copy of which will be included in the exhibition, documented the people and places—including Newport—of the postwar American elite and is considered a bible of American style by stylists and designers. Aaron’s photographs of Newporters both upend and reinforce the region’s traditional place in the American consciousness—namely one of Colonial frugality.
Aarons was fond of the New England city and visited on five separate magazine assignments between 1947 and 1987. The photographs from these watershed periods trace the enduring appeal of the “Queen of Resorts” for wealthy Americans while offering a glimpse of the zeitgeists that gave shape to fashion, style, and leisure across generations.
Slim Aarons: Newport Days continues Redwood’s engagement with documentary photography and photojournalism following Russell Lee: A Documentarian’s Personal Kodachromes (2019‑20) and Harry Benson: Persons of Interest (2022).
To learn more about the exhibition, visit https://redwoodlibrary.org/current‑exhibitions/upcoming‑exhibitions/
Opening on July 11, 2024, Slim Aarons: Newport Days will be open to the public through December 15, 2024. An evening panel discussion about the photographer and his work is planned for August 7, 2024.
Aarons began his career as a WWII combat photographer and returned from the front lines disgusted by the horrors of war. Instead, Aarons vowed to capture “attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places.” For the next four decades, Aarons traveled the globe on freelance assignments for LIFE, Holiday, Town & Country, and Travel + Leisure while establishing himself as the ultimate chronicler of the post‑war beau monde.
Waldron, who has published two Slim Aarons monographs and manages the Slim Aarons Archive at Getty Images, said, “Getty Images is honored to be collaborating with the Redwood Library to bring Slim Aarons to Newport and show a highly curated selection of well‑known works alongside future classics from Slim’s extensive archives.”
Aarons two best‑known photographs, Kings of Hollywood (1957) and Poolside Gossip (1970), are regarded as icons of celebrity portraiture and mid‑century modern style, respectively. His 1974 book A Wonderful Time, a rare copy of which will be included in the exhibition, documented the people and places—including Newport—of the postwar American elite and is considered a bible of American style by stylists and designers. Aaron’s photographs of Newporters both upend and reinforce the region’s traditional place in the American consciousness—namely one of Colonial frugality.
Aarons was fond of the New England city and visited on five separate magazine assignments between 1947 and 1987. The photographs from these watershed periods trace the enduring appeal of the “Queen of Resorts” for wealthy Americans while offering a glimpse of the zeitgeists that gave shape to fashion, style, and leisure across generations.
Slim Aarons: Newport Days continues Redwood’s engagement with documentary photography and photojournalism following Russell Lee: A Documentarian’s Personal Kodachromes (2019‑20) and Harry Benson: Persons of Interest (2022).
To learn more about the exhibition, visit https://redwoodlibrary.org/current‑exhibitions/upcoming‑exhibitions/
