Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus: A Chronology is the closest thing possible to reading a contemporaneous diary by one of the most daring, influential, and controversial artists of the twentieth century. Drawn primarily from Arbus’s extensive correspondence with friends, family, and colleagues; personal notebooks; and other unpublished writings, this beautifully produced volume exposes the private thoughts and motivations of an artist whose astonishing vision derived from the courage to see things as they are and the grace to permit them simply to be. Further rounding out Arbus’s life and work are exhaustively researched footnotes that amplify the entire Chronology. A section at the end of the book provides biographies for fifty-five personalities, family members, friends, and colleagues, from Marvin Israel and Lisette Model to Weegee and August Sander.

Describing the Chronology in Art in America, Leo Rubinfien noted that “Arbus…wrote as well as she photographed, and her letters, where she heard each nuance of her words, were gifts to the people who received them. Once one has been introduced to it, the beauty of her spirit permanently changes and deepens one’s understanding of her pictures…”

The texts in Diane Arbus: A Chronology originally appeared in Diane Arbus Revelations. This volume makes this invaluable text available in an accessible, paperback volume for the very first time.

Diane Arbus (1923–1971) revolutionized the terms of the art she practiced. In addition to Diane Arbus: A Chronology, four volumes of her work have been published posthumously and have remained continuously in print: Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph (1972), Diane Arbus: Magazine Work (1984), Untitled: Diane Arbus (1995), and Diane Arbus Revelations (2003).

Elisabeth Sussman (coauthor, chronology and footnotes) is the Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She served as guest cocurator for the retrospective Diane Arbus Revelations.

Doon Arbus (coauthor, chronology and footnotes) is the eldest daughter of Diane and Allan Arbus; since her mother’s death she has managed The Estate of Diane Arbus.

Jeff L. Rosenheim (author, biographies) is curator of photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.