DIANE ARBUS (1923-1971) MAN AND A BOY ON A BENCH IN CENTRAL PARK, 1962 gelatin silver print, printed later by Neil Selkirk stamped 'A Diane Arbus photograph', signed, titled and dated by Doon Arbus, Executor, in ink, reproduction limitation stamp on verso 39.5 x 37cm mounted and framed Provenance: Christie's, London, Photographs Sale 31.5.2007, Lot 14 Literature: Diane Arbus, Revelations, Random House, 2003, p.76. Diane Arbus is one of the best-known photographers of the 20th century. She is best remembered for her photography of people on the fringes of society. Arbus was born into a wealthy Jewish family who owned Russek's, a famous Fifth Avenue department store. Her brother, Howard Nemerov, would go on to become United States Poet Laureate (and father of the Art Historian Alexander Nemerov). Arbus attended an elite prep school in New York and became a photographer almost immediately upon leaving. She married the actor and photographer Allan Franklin Arbus, and together they started a commercial advertising business whose work appeared in Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and other titles. Arbus tired of the commercial photography world and took to wandering New York to find subjects to photograph. She enrolled at The New School and studied under Lisette Model, who was a great influence on her work. Her first major exhibition came in 1967 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, where her photographs of those ostracized from mainstream society won her both praise and criticism. She continued to photograph similar subjects in her documentary work right up until her death.