Mae West

Diane Arbus, photographer

1923–1971

Neil Selkirk, printer

born 1947

Mae West, 1965

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: gelatin silver print

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 24.7 x 25.1 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 9 3/4 x 9 7/8 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 20 x 16 in

Credit line: Museum purchase

Accession number: 1985.0069

Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Healing, Knowing, Seeing the Body

When Diane Arbus’s photograph of 71-year-old American actress Mae West appeared in the January 1965 issue of Show Magazine, West sued the publication for printing what she considered to be an unflattering portrait, claiming it was cruel. Although the lawsuit was eventually dropped, West’s outrage over her “not at all glamorous” portrayal reflects the ways that bodies—especially women’s bodies—are devalued as they age in Western cultures. The portrait of Charles Atlas, an Italian-American bodybuilder who was 77 at the time Arbus took this photograph, depicts him in an iconic pose from the height of his fame. These images are striking in their raw portrayals of aging bodies in popular media.

Healing, Knowing, Seeing the Body