- Miss Stormé de Larverie, the Lady Who Appears to be a Gentleman, N.Y.C.
Sheet: 13 7/8 × 10 15/16 in. (35.2 × 27.8 cm)
Explore Further
For decades, Stormé DeLarverie
was a regular fixture in New York’s Greenwich Village, a neighborhood known for
its LGBTQ community. Often dressed in stereotypically masculine attire,
DeLarverie caught the eye of Diane Arbus, a photographer known for her strikingly
intimate portraits of distinctive strangers. Some eight years after this
photograph was taken, a police officer clubbed DeLarverie in the face with a
nightstick outside the Stonewall Inn when she refused to leave the bar during a
police raid. While some accounts of the evening vary, most believe that it was
DeLarverie who threw the first punch and ignited the Stonewall Riots.
ProvenanceGay Block, Santa Fe, New Mexico; given to MFAH, 1999.
Exhibition HistoryLoaned to "Diane Arbus: Unseen Images," at Exposure Gallery, Tokyo, 11-13 to 12-20-92 and Parco Gallery, Nagoya, 12-30-92 to 1-17-93. Organized by Research of Art Media for Parco Corp., Ltd., Japan. See LN:92.24.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Upper left: "Not to be reproduced in any way without / written permission from Doon Arbus."
Upper right: "A Diane Arbus photograph ['1/75' inscribed in black ink] / title [left blank] / print by ['NEIL SELKIRK' inscribed in black ink] / Doon Arbus [signed in black ink]"
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.