Two ladies at the automat, N.Y.C. 1966

1966

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Diane Arbus likely encountered the subjects here in the same Horn & Hardart restaurant in New York frequented by the American Surrealist, Joseph Cornell, who had a sweet tooth and appreciated their fruit pies and inexpensive chicory coffee. Arbus had photographed inside the Automat (a coin-operated cafeteria) for some eight years before she met these two women wearing impressive pillbox hats—not identical twins or likely even sisters but perfectly matched, harmonious members of a close-knit community.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Two ladies at the automat, N.Y.C. 1966
Artist: Diane Arbus (American, New York 1923–1971 New York)
Date: 1966
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: Image: 9 5/8 × 9 1/4 in. (24.4 × 23.5 cm)
Sheet: 14 × 11 in. (35.6 × 27.9 cm)
Framed: 21 × 17 in. (53.3 × 43.2 cm)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Promised Gift of Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary
Curatorial Department: Photographs