Diane Arbus
American, 1923–1971
A Family On Their Lawn One Sunday in Westchester, New York
INV-6796
Diane Arbus
American, 1923–19711968
A Family On Their Lawn One Sunday in Westchester, New York
Diane Arbus American, 1923–1971 →photographygelatin silver (developing-out-paper) pr
Date
1968
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
38.4 × 38.2 cm (15 1/8 × 15 1/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Richard Avedon
Throughout her career, photographer Diane Arbus demonstrated a gift for capturing the unusual and
eccentric in a compelling, thoughtful manner. This now–iconic photograph was originally included in a photo–essay, “Two American Families,” published in the London Sunday Times Magazine. In a letter to her editor, Arbus described encountering the woman pictured here in a bookstore: “I said I wanted to photograph her with husband and children so she suggested I wait till warm weather so I can do it around the pool! . . . They are a fascinating family. I think all families are creepy in a way.” Part of the caption for the image, based on Arbus’s corresponence, reads, “The parents seem to be dreaming the child and the child seems to be inventing them.
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