"Poolside Gossip" by Slim Aarons, the American war photographer who became famous for his images of high society. Photo / Slim Aarons / Getty Images
It’s one of the most sought-after pool views in the country – but are all Slim Aarons prints created equal? And why is Webb’s auction house offering refunds for reproductions of the society photographer’s work?
Webb’s auction house will refund buyers who purchased photographic prints it now believes were sourced from unlicensed websites.
The move follows questions from the New Zealand Herald about the sale of prints by high society American photographer, Slim Aarons.
“We have identified we sold reproductions on behalf of vendors without always understanding their provenance,” Paul Evans, Webb’s managing director, said in a statement.
“We have identified the vendors and are actively contacting them to verify their permissions. If any works were obtained from unconfirmed sources, we will address each case individually to ensure proper resolution.
“We have identified the purchasers of works that were sourced from unlicensed sites and are in the process of contacting them to offer full refunds.”
Evans did not respond to questions relating to how many buyers were being contacted, the total value of those sales, or whether refunded buyers would be allowed to keep the works in question.
“We are committed to resolving each sale with the utmost care and accuracy and doing everything in [sic] power to avoid a repeat of our misunderstanding,” Evans said.
Online records obtained from Webb’s auction portal showed that since May 2021, it had handled 76 lots associated with Slim Aarons, with a combined sales value of just over $70,000. More than 60 of the lots had been labelled “After Slim Aarons”.
Aarons, who died in 2006, was a war photographer who went on to document what he described as “attractive people in attractive places doing attractive things”.
One of his most famous photographs is “Poolside Gossip” from a 1970 shoot at an architecturally famous Palm Springs house (designed by Richard Neutra, built for department store magnate Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr and later owned by singer Barry Manilow). Webb’s has sold at least three works with that title and a handful more from the same series, most recently in mid-June, when a lot titled “Poolside Host Print” went for $2031.
Copyright to the full Aarons archive has been with international visual media company Getty Images since 1997.
In June, a Getty representative told the Herald it managed the global licensing for online and print reproductions and worked with vetted businesses to produce and distribute the photographers’ artwork. It confirmed authorised prints would have a hand-embossed signature, logo and come with a certificate of authenticity.
An email trail between the Herald and Webb’s, which began in early June, includes a statement from a senior auction house staffer who said the “After Slim Aarons” lots were not authorised prints.
“They are high-quality reproductions of the original works. While they capture the essence and detail of the original images, they do not carry the same authorisation as official Slim Aarons prints.
“These are intended to be high-quality reproductions for those who appreciate Slim Aarons’ work but may not have the means or opportunity to acquire an authorised print.”
Later, that same staffer said: “We were unaware that the Slim Aarons prints you are referring to were not issued by Getty; sometimes this information gets lost over time, so it is not always possible to know. As an auction house, we act as an agent on behalf of the seller, and there has always been a primary and secondary market for reproductions in New Zealand.”
When the Herald sought further clarification, Webb’s managing director stepped in.
“Rather than going through a detailed, line-by-line response, I’d like to offer the following,” Evans said this week via email.
“First, I understand how the confusion arose, likely due to a colleague’s use of the term “After Slim Aarons”. This phrase, which suggests the works were printed after Slim Aarons’ death, was used because we believed these prints were from authorised websites.”
Evans acknowledged that “trends in the art world can sometimes lead to the unintentional sale of works without the necessary permissions” noting artists such as Banksy, Warhol, Da Vinci, Dali – and Slim Aarons – “often have their works copied and sold in this manner”.
The Herald understands that recent examples of Slim Aarons’ prints sold via Webb’s regular sale, The Estate, had come from at least nine different vendors.
“In the case of Slim Aarons, we have identified that we sold reproductions on behalf of vendors without always understanding their provenance,” Evans said.
“This oversight occurred for several reasons: in some instances, permission seemed evident; in others, the works were vintage (pre-Getty ownership); or we believed they were sourced from Slim Aarons-approved websites. Transparency is always our priority, and your inquiries prompted us to reevaluate the legitimacy of these websites.
“It proved challenging to distinguish between licensed and unlicensed sellers of Slim Aarons’ works, leading us to seek clarification from Getty. Getty have since provided us with the clarity we needed and informed us they are investigating the unauthorised sites.”
A Getty spokesperson had earlier told the Herald “unfortunately, we are unable to provide further commentary/information on legal matters or specific actions taken by Getty Images”. Webb’s, meanwhile, is updating its website to raise awareness about Slim Aarons’ copyright, including guidance for people who believed they had an unauthorised copy. It planned to highlight this material in a newsletter to be sent out in early September.
Earl Gray, an Auckland-based barrister who specialises in intellectual property, said while he couldn’t comment on the specifics of Slim Aarons’ sales in New Zealand, generally, copyright would be in place for the lifetime of an author plus 50 years.
He said copyright laws protected the value of an artist’s work by providing the owner with the right to control both the quality and supply of any subsequent copies.
In New Zealand and Australia, Fineprintco is Getty’s exclusive partner for the release of authorised prints. It, in turn, works with a small number of bricks-and-mortar stores including Green with Envy (Matakana), Little and Fox (Napier) and Frobisher (Christchurch).
“If an artwork comes from a Fineprintco branded site or store, or a reseller within their network, it is an authorised print. Prints purchased from other resellers in the region, including online marketplaces, are unauthorised,” said Shawn Waldron, Getty’s New York-based curator of print sales and exhibitions.
According to Waldron, “the popularity of Slim Aarons’ work has steadily increased for 20 years and exploded over the last five”.
“The name ‘Slim Aarons’ has become an adjective used to describe a desirable scene or destination dripping with luxury and easy living. His work has been featured in recent books, referenced by filmmakers, fashion designers and interior designers and is ubiquitous on social media . . . the saturated colours, attractive locations and carefree lifestyle (not to mention the absence of cellphones and stylists!) feel incredibly authentic and modern.”
Waldron singled out 1970′s “Poolside Gossip” – an image of trouser-suited women lounging at a famous Palm Springs desert house – as a photograph that “still resonates with contemporary audiences”.
That audience includes notable New Zealanders. Recently, when Kiwi businesswoman Anna Mowbray and former All Black Ali Williams celebrated their wedding at Kokomo Private Island resort in Fiji, the bride labelled the after-match “Slim Aaron’s, Poolside”. On Instagram, a photo of the newlyweds in matching, 1970′s-inspired beach attire was titled “Poolside Pairs”.
Other local fans include Louise Wallace, actor, former broadcaster and one of the stars of 2016 reality television production, Real Housewives of Auckland. She owns books and prints featuring the photographer’s work and, while travelling in 2017, made a pilgrimage to sip champagne (NZ$65 a glass) at Hotel du-Cap-Eden-Roc – the location of some of Aarons’ most famous French Riveria photographs.
Wallace says Aarons’ work reminds her of the life her parents inhabited as the owners of a condo in Newport Beach, Southern California.
“They lived half the year there, so the images of slim, tanned, elegant people – who were invariably smoking – was the sort of scene I grew up in.”
Looking at a Slim Aarons’ photograph was like “re-visiting my childhood”, said Wallace.
“It seems to represent a world less angry and less complicated where beautiful people are gathered around swimming pools drinking martinis or sunbaking on the slopes of San Moritz. With the world struggling with economic and political uncertainty, who doesn’t want to pretend they could be part of this uncomplicated, self-indulgent scene?”
Kim Knight is a senior journalist with the New Zealand Herald’s premium lifestyle team and has won multiple media awards for her arts reportage.
'The dollar value might be small, but the risk of harm is not worth taking.'