as he documents his relationship with his aging mother, Bertha "Birdie" Burger. Media Burn Archive The Story of "Momart"
Art history is frequently forced to grapple with the uncomfortable, blurry line between raw creative expression and the exploitation of real human beings. Few cases illustrate this dark intersection more fiercely than the legacy of American artist and his suppressed 1981 documentary, Growing . The Subject of the Controversy
Given the rarity of a direct Growing download, you might expand your search. Larry Rivers' filmography is small but potent. If you enjoy the 1981 aesthetic, look for: Documentary Growing 1981 Larry Rivers Download
No authorized online download exists for the 1981 documentary
To research Larry Rivers's legitimate impact on 20th-century art, it is possible to safely and legally stream authenticated biographical projects: as he documents his relationship with his aging
This divide between art and harm took a dramatic turn in 2010, when NYU acquired Rivers’ archives. The university announced it would make some 36 hours of the Growing footage available to scholars under strict guidelines that kept the material from public view. This decision led Emma Rivers Tamburlini to take drastic action.
The film prominently features his children, exploring the complex, often messy realities of growing up with a fiercely non-conformist, bohemian father. Why the Film is Rare The Subject of the Controversy Given the rarity
Short documentaries highlighting his studio work and his interactions with icons like Frank O'Hara are accessible on Vimeo On Demand .
Growing (1981) — Larry Rivers: Essay
The film consists of footage Rivers shot of his two daughters, Gwynne and Emma, every six months over a period of five years.
The title Growing is deliberately ironic. While the film celebrates germination and expansion, it also acknowledges that all growth is followed by entropy. Rivers repeatedly cuts from vibrant seedlings to dying leaves, from a fresh canvas to a cluttered studio, from a child’s face to a weathered one. This duality reflects the artist’s lifelong engagement with mortality—his mother had died young, and his own body was beginning to show the wear of a hard-living artistic life.