Very Thin Man
Artist
Diane Arbus
(American, 1923-1971)
CultureAmerican
Date1961
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 9 3/4 x 6 3/4 in. (24.8 x 17.1 cm)
Overall, Support: 14 × 10 7/8 in. (35.6 × 27.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Overall, Support: 14 × 10 7/8 in. (35.6 × 27.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Menschel
Object number80.222
Not on view
Label TextDiane Arbus
American, 1923–1971
Very Thin Man, 1961
Gelatin silver print
Museum purchase with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Menschel
80.222
Diane Arbus sought out the unfamiliar in her portraits, making visible those who previously felt invisible. This assertion of presence restores their agency of representation and calls our idea of “normal” into question. The first major retrospective
of Arbus’s work was in 1972 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Critics offered mixed reviews of her photographs that focused on outcasts, people with physical anomalies, and the uncanny. Her practice has been viewed as both humanist and exploitative.Exhibition History"On the Road," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, July 3 - September 21, 1986.
"Photographs from the Chrysler Museum," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, Feb. 26 - April 23, 1989.
"The Portrait in America," The Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photography Galleries, The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, Jan. 26 - April 8, 1990.
"Silver Images: The Photography Collection at 25," Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photo Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., November 5, 2003 - August 2004.
"Women of the Chrysler: a 400-Year Celebration of the Arts," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., March 24 - July 18, 2010.
"Photographic Histories," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, May 10 - August 17, 2014.
"Facing Ourselves: Mike Disfarmer and the American Portrait," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, December 16, 2022 - May 14, 2023.Published ReferencesChrysler Museum. _Selections from the Permanent Collection: The Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum of Art. 1982: 128.
Brooks Johnson. _The Portrait in America_. The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA. 1990: 53.
Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 98 det. & 118, fig. 143. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1
