ARBUS TIMELINE
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TIMELINE
From Twoop timelines.
March 14, 1923
Diane Arbus was born in New York City, N.Y, to David Nemerov and Gertrude Russek Nemerov, whose parents own the Fifth Avenue fur shop Russek's. She was of Russian descent and had a brother, Howard Nemerov, who grew up to be a famous poet.
October 13, 1928
Diane's sister, Renée, is born. Because of their mother's crippling depression and their father constantly at work, Diane was more like a mother to Renée than a sister.
1929 through 1940
Diane attends Ethical Culture School, and then Fieldston School on the Riverside section of the Bronx. Both are very prestigious private schools. Diane particularly enjoys art class, and one of her teachers suggests the career of a painter. After school, Diane often roamed around NYC with her friends, her fiery courage leading the way.
Sometime in 1937
Diane meets Allan Arbus at Russek's where he works as an employee. It is love at first sight, but their parents forbid any romantic relatonship of sorts.
Early 1940s
Allan starts to teach Diane about photography. He gives her her first camera, a Nikon 35 mm, before departing to India as a photographer for the U.S. Army. The pair create a fashion studio under the name "Diane and Allan Arbus" to photograph for magazines such as Vogue or Harper's Bazaar. While Allan is off at war, Diane takes photography classes under Berenice Abbott. When he returns, Diane's father David hires the two to do fashion advertisements for Russek's.
April 3, 1945
Diane gives birth to her first daughter, Doon Arbus, a future journalist and writer.
1951
Diane and Allan close their studio and move to Europe with Doon.
1952
Diane, Allan, and Doon move back to New York City.
April 16, 1954
Diane gives birth to her second daughter, Amy Arbus, who will follow in her mother's footsteps as a photographer.
1956
Diane quits working at Russek's with Allan, saying, "I can’t do it anymore. I’m not going to do it anymore." Allan understands and is very patient with Diane.
1957
Diane becomes very interested in misfits, transgenders, nudists, circus performers, and outcasts thrown out by society. She starts taking photographs whenever she can with a Nikon 35 mm and starts studying with teacher Lisette Model. Her photos are mainly of ordinary people at first, but slowly they start to take a turn and became bolder as Diane explores a more courageous side of herself as well.
1959
Diane and Allan separate, but still remain very close friends due to their daughters. Allan visits every Sunday to develop Diane's negatives on film for her. In November, Diane meets Marvin Israel, art director of Seventeen magazine and husband to Margie Ponce Israel. They become lovers, but Marvin refuses to separate from his wife.
1962
Diane switches from her 35 mm Nikon to a Rolleiflex camera, which would help her create more detailed photos.
1963
Diane receives the Guggenheim Fellowship Award for her photos on American rites, manners, and customs.
1964
Diane also begins using a Mamiya camera with flash alongside her Rolleiflex.
1966
Diane's Guggenheim Fellowship is renewed.
1969
Diane and Allan officially divorce, when Allan moves to Los Angeles to start an acting career. Starting this year, she also begins the "Untitled Collection", telling Allan that she has been searching for something like this her whole life. This still remains a mystery.
1956-1971
Diane works as an independent photographer.
July 26, 1971
Diane commits suicide by slashing her wrists and overdosing on barbiturates in the bathtub. Two days later, her body is found by lover and close friend Marvin Israel.
Diane Arbus was born in New York City, N.Y, to David Nemerov and Gertrude Russek Nemerov, whose parents own the Fifth Avenue fur shop Russek's. She was of Russian descent and had a brother, Howard Nemerov, who grew up to be a famous poet.
October 13, 1928
Diane's sister, Renée, is born. Because of their mother's crippling depression and their father constantly at work, Diane was more like a mother to Renée than a sister.
1929 through 1940
Diane attends Ethical Culture School, and then Fieldston School on the Riverside section of the Bronx. Both are very prestigious private schools. Diane particularly enjoys art class, and one of her teachers suggests the career of a painter. After school, Diane often roamed around NYC with her friends, her fiery courage leading the way.
Sometime in 1937
Diane meets Allan Arbus at Russek's where he works as an employee. It is love at first sight, but their parents forbid any romantic relatonship of sorts.
Early 1940s
Allan starts to teach Diane about photography. He gives her her first camera, a Nikon 35 mm, before departing to India as a photographer for the U.S. Army. The pair create a fashion studio under the name "Diane and Allan Arbus" to photograph for magazines such as Vogue or Harper's Bazaar. While Allan is off at war, Diane takes photography classes under Berenice Abbott. When he returns, Diane's father David hires the two to do fashion advertisements for Russek's.
April 3, 1945
Diane gives birth to her first daughter, Doon Arbus, a future journalist and writer.
1951
Diane and Allan close their studio and move to Europe with Doon.
1952
Diane, Allan, and Doon move back to New York City.
April 16, 1954
Diane gives birth to her second daughter, Amy Arbus, who will follow in her mother's footsteps as a photographer.
1956
Diane quits working at Russek's with Allan, saying, "I can’t do it anymore. I’m not going to do it anymore." Allan understands and is very patient with Diane.
1957
Diane becomes very interested in misfits, transgenders, nudists, circus performers, and outcasts thrown out by society. She starts taking photographs whenever she can with a Nikon 35 mm and starts studying with teacher Lisette Model. Her photos are mainly of ordinary people at first, but slowly they start to take a turn and became bolder as Diane explores a more courageous side of herself as well.
1959
Diane and Allan separate, but still remain very close friends due to their daughters. Allan visits every Sunday to develop Diane's negatives on film for her. In November, Diane meets Marvin Israel, art director of Seventeen magazine and husband to Margie Ponce Israel. They become lovers, but Marvin refuses to separate from his wife.
1962
Diane switches from her 35 mm Nikon to a Rolleiflex camera, which would help her create more detailed photos.
1963
Diane receives the Guggenheim Fellowship Award for her photos on American rites, manners, and customs.
1964
Diane also begins using a Mamiya camera with flash alongside her Rolleiflex.
1966
Diane's Guggenheim Fellowship is renewed.
1969
Diane and Allan officially divorce, when Allan moves to Los Angeles to start an acting career. Starting this year, she also begins the "Untitled Collection", telling Allan that she has been searching for something like this her whole life. This still remains a mystery.
1956-1971
Diane works as an independent photographer.
July 26, 1971
Diane commits suicide by slashing her wrists and overdosing on barbiturates in the bathtub. Two days later, her body is found by lover and close friend Marvin Israel.
Significant photos through the years
These aren't all of the photos Diane Arbus took - they're just a few of our favorites and some of the most popular!
1956
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Taxicab driver at the wheel with two passengers, N.Y.C. 1956
Woman in a mink stole and bow shoes, N.Y.C. 1956 Boy in the subway, N.Y.C. 1956 Woman on the street with her eyes closed, 1956. Woman with white gloves and a pocketbook, N.Y.C., 1956. Child in a nightgown, Wellfleet, Mass. 1956 Family at Easter, N.Y.C. 1956 Woman on the street with two men, N.Y.C. 1956 Woman carrying a child in Central Park, N.Y.C. 1956 Couple eating, N.Y.C. 1956 |
1957
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Trapeze act, N.Y.C. 1957
Kid in Black-Face with Friend, N.Y.C 1957 Kid in a hooded jacket aiming a gun, N.Y.C. 1957 Sunny South Syncopaters and other sideshow banners at night, Palisades Park, N.J. 1957 Empty snack bar, N.Y.C., 1957. Girl with a pointy hood and white schoolbag at the curb, N.Y.C., 1957 |
1958
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42nd Street movie theater audience, N.Y.C., 1958
Little man biting woman’s breast, N.Y.C., 1958 Movie Theater Lobby, N.Y.C., 1958 |
1959*
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Female impersonator holding long gloves, Hempstead, L.I. 1959
* It can be guessed that due to the business of her and Allan's separation, Diane didn't have much time for photography this year. |
The 1960s was the peak of Diane's photography.
1960
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Man in hat, trunks, socks and shoes, Coney Island, N.Y. 1960
Old woman with hands raised in the ocean, Coney Island, N.Y., 1960 Elizabeth Taylor look-alike kneeling on a bed, London, England, 1960 Boy in a cap, N.Y.C. 1960 |
1961
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Two girls by a brick wall, N.Y.C. 1961
The House of Horrors, Coney Island, N.Y. 1961 A very thin man in Central Park, N.Y.C., 1961 Headless man, N.Y.C. 1961 Headless woman, N.Y.C. 1961 Teenage boy, N.Y.C. 1961 |
1962
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Baseball game in Central Park, N.Y.C. 1962
Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C. 1962 Woman at a counter smoking, N.Y.C., 1962 Penelope Tree in her living room, New York City, 1962 A castle in Disneyland, Cal. 1962 |
1963
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Waitress, Nudist Camp, N.J., 1963
A House on a Hill, Hollywood, CA, 1963 The Junior Interstate Ballroom Dance Champions, Yonkers, N.Y. 1963 Russian midget friends in a living room on 100th St, N.Y.C., 1963 Lady in a rooming house parlor, Albion, N.Y. 1963 Two girls in curlers, N.Y.C. 1963 Young girl after the Puerto Rican parade, N.Y.C. 1963 Child selling plastic orchids at night, N.Y.C. 1963 Three Puerto Rican women, N.Y.C. 1963 Triplets in their bedroom, N.J. 1963 |
1964
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Santa Claus at school, Albion, N.Y. 1964
Three Circus Ballerinas, 1964 Bishop on her Bed, Santa Barbara, Cal., 1964 Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus in their living room, Albion, N.Y. 1964 A flower girl at a wedding, Conn. 1964 Boxer with a punching bag, N.Y.C. 1964 |
1965
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Two friends at home, N.Y.C. 1965
Girls in Matching Bikinis, Coney Island, 1965 A Family One Evening in a Nudist Camp, PA, 1965 Nudist Lady with Swan Sunglasses, PA, 1965 Mae West in her Bedroom , Santa Monica, California, 1965 Young couple on a bench in Washington Square , 1965 Girl in a watch cap, N.Y.C. 1965 Girl with a Cigar, Washington Square Park, N.Y.C, 1965 Groom kissing his bride, N.Y.C. 1965 |
1966
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Transvestite on a couch, N.Y.C. 1966
Two ladies at the automat NYC, 1966 Lucas Samaras, N.Y.C., 1966 A young Brooklyn family going for a Sunday outing, N.Y.C. 1966 A lobby in a building, N.Y.C. 1966 |
1967
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Child Crying, New Jersey, 1967
Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey, 1967. Girl in a Shiny Dress, NYC, 1967 Woman with eyeliner, NYC, 1967 Masked man in white, N.Y.C. 1967 Woman wearing a bird mask, New York, 1967 Boy with a straw hat waiting to march in a pro-war parade, N.Y.C. 1967 |
1968
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Camp Lakecrest Campers As Trees, Dutchess County, N.Y. 1968
A very young baby, N.Y.C. 1968 Girl in a coat lying on her bed, N.Y.C., 1968 Photographer posing communion boy, N.Y.C. 1968 A family on their lawn one Sunday in Westchester, N.Y. 1968 |
1969 **
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The Untitled Collection commences. "This is what I have been looking for," Diane tells Allan, which still remains a mystery.
** Diane did not take many photos this year due to her divorce with Allan, who was the one developing her photos. |
1970
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Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, NY, 1970
Masked Woman in a Wheelchair, Pennsylvania, 1970 Albino Sword Swallower at a Carnival, MD, 1970 The Untitled Collection |
1971
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A young man and his girlfriend with hot dogs , 1971
An empty movie theater, N.Y.C. 1971 New York skyline in a lobby, St. Petersburg, Fla. 1971 The Untitled Collection A Box of Ten Photographs |
Family Relationships
Father (David Nemerov)
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Diane, oddly enough, had a 'flirtatious relationship' with her father when she was younger. Many of Diane's friends express their discomfort when she and her father would wink across the room. David rarely assisted Diane with her financial problems unless Diane asked for help, which Diane hated doing: she wanted to prove to her parents that she was responsible and independent.
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Mother (Gertrude Russek Nemerov)
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Due to Gertrude's constant depression, drinking, absence, and neglect, Diane never had a strong relationship with her and grew to dislike her mother. Gertrude only complimented Diane while company was over, which Diane hated.
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Brother (Howard Nemerov)
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Many suspect that Diane had incestuous relationships with her brother Howard. Besides debatable romance, Diane and Howard got along like the closest of siblings. When Howard wanted to be a pianist, Diane avoided the piano like the plague so Howard could be in the spotlight.
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Sister (Renee Sparkia (Nemerov))
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When Renee was born, Diane treated her little sister like a daughter to make up for Gertrude's constant absences. Diane taught Renee basic tasks like reading, dressed her, and when the two were older (and Renee was married to Roy Sparkia), exchanged relationship advice.
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Spouse (Allan Arbus)
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Allan and Diane met in their teen years. Diane loved Allan instantly, and according to her family, never stopped talking about him. Gertrude and David disapproved of their marriage, but finally gave in after Diane's relentless pestering. Diane and Allan worked as fashion photographers under David's store, Russek's, until Diane couldn't take it anymore and left to become a freelance photographer. Allan and Diane had a falling-out, and the two divorced. Allan still visited to be with their daughters. Later, Allan moved to Los Angeles, California, to begin an acting career. This was when Allan and Diane had a final divorce.
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Romantic Interests (Marvin Israel)
Children (Doon and Amy Arbus) |
Marvin Israel and Diane became lovers. Israel was married to Margie Ponce Israel and made clear that he didn't want to leave his wife for Diane. When Diane committed suicide, Marvin was the one who discovered her body. Diane had discovered that Israel had had a romantic relationship with Doon Arbus during the last few weeks of her relationship with him.
Doon Arbus, Diane's firstborn, was named after the sand-dunes Diane dreamed about after she gave birth to Doon. Doon and Diane had a very sisterly relationship: Diane would take Doon out to the park and the two would dare each other to do silly things to strangers who walked past.
Amy Arbus, Diane's second child, was the subject of one of Diane's photographs: Child in a nightgown, Wellfleet, Mass, 1957. Amy tagged along while Diane took pictures. Diane raised Amy to be an independent young girl: one time, Amy (age four) fell into a pond and Diane didn't notice until Amy pulled herself out. |
Important Role Models (Lisette Model)
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Lisette Model was one of Diane's teachers. It was she who inspired Diane to take photos and later on quit her job as a fashion photographer at Russek's and become an individual photographer.
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