Jewish Giant 1970 from the collection of Art Alba Gallery

Detail

Jewish Giant 1970, 1970

Photograph

21 x 21 cm

US$2,500

Diane Arbus selected this image for inclusion in her only portfolio, "A Box of Ten Photographs", in 1971. It is one of her most famous works.
When Arbus captured ‘A Jewish Giant at Home with His Parents in the Bronx, N. Y.’ in 1970, the year before her death, she had known Eddie Carmel for a decade, having first photographed him in 1960 at Hubert's Dime Museum and Flea Circus in Times Square. From 1961 to 1968 he worked for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, where he was dubbed ‘The Tallest Man on Earth’ and ‘The World’s Greatest Giant,’ erroneously billed as standing more than 9 feet tall and weighing 500 pounds. Carmel was also somewhat famous due to his appearances in B-movies such as The Brain that Wouldn’t Die (1962) and 50,000 B.C. (Before Clothes) (1963).
Born Oded Ha-Carmeili in Tel Aviv to American-immigrant parents, Carmel’s gigantism stemmed from acromegaly, a glandular disorder, which began to affect his growth during his teenage years. By 1970, the condition caused an extreme curvature in his spine so that he needed to use two canes in order to stand. While Arbus was initially intrigued by Carmel's abnormality, her photograph also encapsulates his humanity and the difficult reality of his familial situation. Deteriorating health forced Carmel to live with his parents, whose lives in turn were limited by the responsibility of caring for their son. The strained relationship between Carmel and his father, who did not approve of his circus work, is painfully apparent in this image.
Eddie died some 18 months after this picture was taken, aged 36, a year after Arbus herself.

This is a genuine vintage photogravure, printed in Switzerland in 1972.. Archivally mounted on 100% acid-free board, matted to 12" x 12" and in a black wooden frame.

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About the artist

Diane Arbus

1923-1971

Transgressing traditional boundaries, Diane Arbus is known for her highly desirable, groundbreaking portraiture taken primarily in the American Northeast during the late 1950s and 1960s. Famous for establishing strong personal relationships with her subjects, Arbus' evocative images capture them in varied levels of intimacy. Whether in their living rooms or on the street, their surreal beauty transcends the common distance found in documentary photography.

Taken as a whole, Arbus' oeuvre presents the great diversity of American society — nudists, twins, babies, beauty queens and giants — while each distinct image brings the viewer into contact with an exceptional individual brought to light through Arbus' undeniable genius.

Additional Artworks

Shibuya Crossing, 2020

Dream But Don't Sleep (Red), 2007

St Stephen's Birds, 2002

Dreaming in Colour, 2001

Portrait Head, 1991

Half Moon Bay, 1970

Dame Margot Fonteyn 1957, 1957

Cat Scratcher 1946, c. 1940

About the artist

Diane Arbus