Untitled (7)
Diane Arbus American
Not on view
In the final years of her life Diane Arbus sought and received permission to photograph individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Untitled (7) was made on a visit to the Vineland Developmental Center in 1969. Soon after, Arbus wrote to her former husband, “I took the most terrific pictures. The ones at Halloween in NJ … They are so lyric and tender and pretty.” While in reality these characters were simply navigating a Halloween parade, the photograph evokes tableaux of centuries past such as Bruegel the Elder's The Blind Leading the Blind (1568). In both works, a group follows a pilgrimage from left to right across the picture plane. The fate of Bruegel’s subjects is revealed as they follow one another downhill into a ditch, whereas in Untitled (7) the future that awaits the figures beyond the frame remains unknown.