Boy with a straw hat waiting to march in a pro-war parade, NYC, 1967

Born in New York City in 1923, Arbus emerged as a significant figure in photography during the 1960s, with her inclusion in the 1967 exhibition, New Documents, organized by John Szarkowski, cementing her place among a pantheon of important 20^th century photographers. Arbus’s career was marked by her profound interest in capturing the uniqueness of each of her subjects. In her personal work, she focused on individuals from all walks of life.

Boy with a straw hat waiting to march in a pro-war parade, NYC sits within a broader body of work by Arbus that documents American life —or at least uses the visual language of a documentary style of photography—during the 1960s, a time of significant social and political upheaval. The image depicts an adolescent boy wearing a straw hat and patriotic garb (his pin reads ‘God Bless America, Support Our Boys in Vietnam’). While many critics have attempted to assign meaning to the image, the work itself is ambiguous—the boy presents himself, and Arbus makes an image. Any meaning, as is true of all of Arbus’s work, comes from the viewer.

The work on offer is a rare, lifetime print of the image, made by Arbus between 1967 and 1969 as is evident in the treatment of her borders. It is among only four lifetime prints of this image that have come to auction. Additionally, lifetime prints of the image reside in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C.; and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

This photograph appeared on the cover of Art Forum, Volume IX, No. 9, May 1971.