Growing 1981 Larry Rivers _top_ Jun 2026

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For decades, the footage remained largely unseen by the public, held within the artist’s private collection. The situation changed in 2010 when the Larry Rivers Foundation sought to include the 45-minute film and its outtakes in a sale of the artist’s archives to New York University (NYU).

This article explores the context, content, and immense controversy surrounding "Growing" (1981), a series of films and videos in which Larry Rivers documented the physical maturation of his young daughters, Emma and Gwynne. 1. The Context: A "Bad Boy" Chronicling Change

In a voice-over for a 2010 article, Tamburlini articulated the core dilemma: "I kind of think that a lot of people would be very uptight, or at least a little bit concerned, wondering whether they have in their archives child pornography," she said. Her sister, Gwynne Rivers, declined to comment publicly at the time, but both daughters eventually sought to have the materials returned to them for destruction.

. This project has become a central point of debate regarding the boundaries between art, privacy, and exploitation. Overview of the Series 1976 and 1981 , Rivers filmed his two adolescent daughters, Emma Tamburlini Gwynne Rivers , at six-month intervals.

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Growing 1981 Larry Rivers _top_ Jun 2026

For decades, the footage remained largely unseen by the public, held within the artist’s private collection. The situation changed in 2010 when the Larry Rivers Foundation sought to include the 45-minute film and its outtakes in a sale of the artist’s archives to New York University (NYU).

This article explores the context, content, and immense controversy surrounding "Growing" (1981), a series of films and videos in which Larry Rivers documented the physical maturation of his young daughters, Emma and Gwynne. 1. The Context: A "Bad Boy" Chronicling Change growing 1981 larry rivers

In a voice-over for a 2010 article, Tamburlini articulated the core dilemma: "I kind of think that a lot of people would be very uptight, or at least a little bit concerned, wondering whether they have in their archives child pornography," she said. Her sister, Gwynne Rivers, declined to comment publicly at the time, but both daughters eventually sought to have the materials returned to them for destruction. For decades, the footage remained largely unseen by

. This project has become a central point of debate regarding the boundaries between art, privacy, and exploitation. Overview of the Series 1976 and 1981 , Rivers filmed his two adolescent daughters, Emma Tamburlini Gwynne Rivers , at six-month intervals. Rivers filmed his two adolescent daughters