Female impersonator with jewels, N.Y.C. 1958
1958, printed 1975
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 21.6 x 14.4 cm (8 1/2 x 5 11/16 in.) sheet: 35.6 x 27.7 cm (14 x 10 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gay Block Fund
Accession Number
2006.91.1
Art Historical Context
In 1958, Diane Arbus captured *Female Impersonator with Jewels N.Y.C.*, a striking gelatin silver print that exemplifies her unflinching gaze on the fringes of American society. Shot in New York City during a time when drag culture thrived in underground nightlife amid post-World War II social conservatism, the photograph portrays a performer adorned in glittering jewels, blurring lines between gender and identity. Arbus, a pioneering documentary photographer known for her intimate portraits of outsiders—circus performers, transvestites, and eccentrics—revealed the humanity and vulnerability b...