In May 1971, Artforum, bastion of late modernism, featured the work of
a photographer for the very first time. On its cover and in a six-page
spread, it published selections from Diane Arbus's portfolio, A box of
ten photographs. In the words of the magazine's editor and photography
skeptic, Philip Leider, "The portfolio changed everything . . . one
could no longer deny [photography's] status as art." At the time of
Arbus's death, two months later, only four of the intended edition of
fifty had been sold. Two had been purchased from Arbus by Richard Avedon
(the first for himself, the second as a gift for his friend Mike
Nichols); another was purchased by Jasper Johns; and a fourth by Bea
Feitler, art director at Harper's Bazaar. Arbus signed the prints in all
four sets; each print was accompanied by an interleaving vellum
slip-sheet inscribed with an extended caption. For Feitler, Arbus added
an eleventh photograph, A woman with her baby monkey, N.J. 1971.
Acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, in
1986--and the only one of the four completed and sold by Arbus that is
publicly held--that portfolio is the subject of an exhibition on view at
the museum from April through September 2018. This exceptional book
replicates the nature of Diane Arbus's original and now legendary
object. Smithsonian curator John P. Jacob, who has unearthed a trove of
new information in preparing the book and exhibition, weaves a
fascinating tale of the creation, production, and continuing
repercussions of this seminal work.
Published by Aperture in association with the Smithsonian American Art
Museum, Washington, D.C.
