Tag: Slim Aarons

Art & Culture

The First Lady of Modernism

There are moments at Modernism Week that feel like stepping into a time capsule – and then there are moments that feel like stepping into history itself. Like when you get to meet a Modernism icon.

My signed “Palm Springs Life” cover – a keeper!

I was wandering through the Modernism Show at the Palm Springs Convention Center when I met Nelda Linsk – a prominent Palm Springs fashion figure, art dealer, and former owner of the Kaufmann House – better known as the First Lady of Modernism and forever remembered as ‘the lady in yellow’ from Slim Aarons’ Poolside Gossip.

From “The Outtakes” – by Slim Aarons.

The image is celebrated for capturing the glamorous mid-century modern lifestyle of the era.  Yellow is such a magnetic color – warm, bold, impossible to ignore. It’s the color of joy, of desert mornings, of the kind of optimism Modernism was built on. No wonder the world noticed her first in that shade. There was a lot of beauty in that iconic photograph, but all eyes centered on Nelda.

I can only imagine what it must feel like to be hanging in so many people’s homes.

Then and Now

Nelda is having another mod moment. Her relevance and glow seems to never fade, as she’s gracing the February cover of Palm Springs Life Magazine and has just received a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame.

In Poolside Gossip, the yellow dress became a symbol of Modernism’s optimism – bright, confident, sun‑soaked. But when I met her, dressed in understated cream, she carried the same light. It reminded me that Modernism wasn’t just about color or architecture. It was about people who embodied a certain kind of brightness. The kind once attributed to a dress was really the brightness of a woman who helped define an era.

Walking away from the show, I kept thinking about that shift from yellow to cream – from the bold brightness of youth to the softer, steadier glow of someone who has carried an era forward.

Modernism may be defined by its architecture, but its spirit lives on in people like Nelda Linsk, who remind us that true radiance doesn’t fade. It simply changes hue.

Here is another post I wrote last year – the first time I met Nelda and more about the photograph and the person who took it:

Slim Aarons: from bombs to bombshells

Modernism is on until Sunday, February 22, 2026.

Outside the Convention Center  Below are some pics from what’s waiting inside.  Photos: d. king

Auction coming up of The Estate of Joanna Carson (wife of Johnny Carson)- March 3, 2026. John Moran Auctioneers & Appraisers.  Shown here is a sampling.
So many beautiful vintage buys besides furniture and art at this show – as with the “Curated Vintage Event.“
For tickets to events:

https://modernismweek.com/2026/

 

STYLE

Slim Aarons: from bombs to bombshells

In 1970, a jet-set photographer by the name of Slim called up a socialite in Palm Springs and said “I want to come over and do a pool shot. Call some friends over.” Slim chance they’d realize then, that history was in the making.

I went to a Modernism Week talk recently at the Annenberg Theatre entitled “Wait Until You See: Slim Aarons x Palm Springs.”  It was given by Shawn Waldron, author of  the new book “Slim Aarons: The Essential Collection.” He also wrote Slim Aarons “Style.”

“Slim Aarons: The Essential Collection” is a colossal and luxurious hard cover book.  One you want to leave on a coffee table or at least keep as part of your important books collection.  Especially if you love fashion, style and all that goes along with it.  The good life, with a capital “G.”

I always say, that aside from the home tours, parties and exhibits going on around Modernism Week; don’t overlook taking in one of the lectures. The informal talks are informative, interesting and significant to the story at hand.  You find out a lot more than you already know.

Shawn Waldron stands by his latest book.  At Grace Home Furnishings 02/23/24.   Photo: d. king

For starters, I always thought that high society photographer Slim Aarons only took pretty lifestyle photos.  However; we found out that he started off working as a photographer at West Point Military Academy and later as a combat photographer, following and documenting the horrors of World War II across Northern Africa and Europe.

After the war, Slim vowed to walk on the sunnier side of the street, opting to photograph girls not guns, bikinis instead of bombs. Good call.

With Nelda Linsk – now.  Beautiful & elegant as ever.

Last night I went to a cocktail party and book signing at Grace Home Furnishings (Grace is named after the owners’ black lab). The ambience was very inviting at one of the most stylish modern retail and custom design studios I’ve been to. Founded in 2000 by designers Michael Ostrow and Roger Stoker; providing furniture, art, photography and more, including in-house personalized interior design services.  I was talking with a woman who was extremely happy with the team who outfitted her home with “everything Grace.” Delicious canapes and cocktails were being passed around courtesy of Jake’s (a restaurant in the uptown design district).

Among the attendees were the two owners; Michael Ostrow and Roger Stoker, the author; Shawn Waldron, Designer Trina Turk, and Nelda Linsk; who of course was in the iconic Slim Aarons “Poolside Gossip” which the  photographer shot in 1970 at the Kaufmann House in Palm Springs. The photograph has had many reproductions and has since become as much a symbol of modernism as its setting.  You’ll see a print hanging in many homes here and there.  Almost every store in Palm Springs too.

Grace on the floor by a “PoolSide Gossip” print on the wall at Grace Home Furnishings . Photo: taken from their website.

No doubt you’ve seen the photo. Two attractive women sit in lounge chairs beside a teal-blue pool, looking fabulous and moneyed. A third, all legs and carefree attitude, strides toward them with a drink in her hand. In the background is a modern glass-and-stone house and purplish mountains. The landscape is idyllic. The sunlight is hazy and golden. You would live inside the photo if you could.  (this paragraph was taken from The New York Times).

That’s exactly what I was trying to do last night. Live inside the photo with my new friend (we were so busy gossiping and the conversation was so mesmerizing that I unfortunately forgot her name.)

In 1997, Mark Getty, the co-founder of Getty Images, visited Aarons in his home and bought Aarons’ entire archive. In 2017, filmmaker Fritz Mitchell released a documentary about Aarons, called Slim Aarons: The High Life.

Nelda Linsk was a longtime friend of Silm Aarons and owner of the Richard Neutra designed 1946 Kaufmann House. Nelda hosted the impromptu party where along with friends, Helen Dzo Dzo (Kaptur) and Lita Baron, she would become immortalized in the world-famous photo.

The 3,200-square-foot home was once owned by Barry Manilow and Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr.  

Palm Springs’s commitment to its midcentury legacy and architectural flair has allowed it to remain a sought-after vacation home locale well into the 21st century.

Imagine having no idea how celebrated you’d become over the years  by having a cocktail with friends at your home?

Photos: d. king