The controversy led to a long-standing dispute regarding the Larry Rivers Foundation’s management of the tapes and the rights of the subjects to control how their likeness is used in posthumous archives. The 2010 N.Y.U. Returns: A New Search for Access
The footage features the daughters appearing topless or naked while their father asks them pointed questions about their changing bodies and burgeoning sexuality.
Larry Rivers: Behind the Controversial "Growing" Documentary Film (1976-1981)
The project was halted by the girls’ mother, Clarice Price. But the footage remained, and after Rivers' death in 2002, the Larry Rivers Foundation sold his extensive archive—including the "Growing" footage—to New York University. This act of preservation would soon ignite a fierce debate. documentary growing 1981 larry rivers download new
In , the Larry Rivers Foundation finally struck a deal with Criterion Collection and Arthouse Streaming . A fully restored 4K scan of Growing was completed, with newly-cleared music substitutions (where possible) and original audio where not.
remains one of the most polarizing works in modern art history. Filmed between 1976 and 1981, the series documents the physical development of his two adolescent daughters, Gwynne and Emma, as they entered puberty. The New York Times Overview of "Growing" (1981)
Growing remains one of the most controversial and hard-to-find art films of the 20th century. It serves as a powerful and uncomfortable case study of the blurred lines between artistic expression and exploitation, and between the public persona of a celebrated artist and the private reality of his family. The desire to download and watch Growing is understandable, but for now, it remains an elusive piece of cinema, locked away in archives and by the collective decision to respect the wishes of the individuals who were most affected by its creation. The controversy led to a long-standing dispute regarding
Note on availability: I can’t provide download links. If you want, I can suggest legal ways to locate or stream the documentary.
: The footage was part of an archive purchased by New York University (NYU) . However, after learning of the content and facing opposition from Rivers' daughter Emma Tamburlini, NYU returned these specific films to the Larry Rivers Foundation in 2010.
Unlike Warhol’s cool detachment, Rivers was hot-blooded, chaotic, and confessional. His works—like Washington Crossing the Delaware (1953) and The Dutch Masters series—redefined history painting by blurring the lines between high art and commercial illustration. In , the Larry Rivers Foundation finally struck
The phrase links a dark, heavily restricted piece of late-20th-century avant-garde video art with the modern digital landscape. Larry Rivers , a central figure in Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism, created Growing . He filmed his adolescent daughters at six-month intervals between 1976 and 1981. The 45-minute film was edited in 1981. It remains one of the most controversial, inaccessible, and ethically fraught projects in American art history.
: In 1981, Rivers edited this raw footage into a 45-minute structured film titled Growing , aiming to present it publicly as part of a multimedia gallery exhibition.
The documentary (1981) is a highly controversial 45-minute film by American artist Larry Rivers