Documentary Growing 1981 Larry Rivers Download Updated Official

There is currently no news regarding a 4K restoration or a Criterion Collection-style re-release. However, interest in Larry Rivers' filmography occasionally prompts art museums (such as the Getty, which holds his papers) to screen his films during retrospectives.

If you are looking to watch or download this:

In modern parenting and feminist circles, the film is debated: Is it a freeing depiction of natural motherhood, or a male director fetishizing his wife’s postpartum body? This modern lens has made scholars scramble to find original copies.

If you cannot secure a download of Growing (1981) yet, there are three updated documentaries about Larry Rivers that are available for digital rental:

The Museum of Modern Art Library in New York holds a preservation copy. You cannot download it, but you can book a Museum Library pass (free with admission) and watch it on a private viewing station. You must request the film 72 hours in advance via their special collections desk.

You need to verify you have the correct file. The original 1993 VHS transfer had a distinctive brownish tint and cut the scene where Rivers argues with his mother on the phone (10:42 mark).

The Updated 2024/2025 restoration features:

The difficulty of finding Growing is, in a strange way, perfectly aligned with Larry Rivers’ artistic philosophy. He hated ease. He loved the friction between desire and access. The film is not just about a baby growing; it is about the ugly, beautiful, and often inaccessible nature of private life. documentary growing 1981 larry rivers download updated

While the internet wants an updated download button for convenience, the legend of Growing survives because of its scarcity. By the time the 2026 restoration arrives, it will feel like uncovering a lost artifact.

Action Summary for the Searcher:

The search for Growing is part of the art itself. Keep looking—but look in the right places.

Last updated: May 2025. This article will be updated when the official digital download becomes available.

The 1981 documentary series Larry Rivers is a controversial and deeply personal video project that has remained largely out of public view due to its sensitive nature. Background and Content Project Overview

: Filmed between 1976 and 1981, Rivers documented his two adolescent daughters, Emma and Gwynne, at six-month intervals. Controversial Nature

: The footage features the girls often naked or topless as Rivers interviewed them about their developing bodies and the attention they received from boys.

: In 1981, Rivers edited approximately five years of footage into a 45-minute film originally intended for public exhibition. The New York Times Distribution and Legal Status Restricted Access

: Due to objections from the family—specifically his wife, Clarice, and later his daughter, Emma—the film was never widely released and was kept in the artist's private archives. Archive Dispute : In 2010, New York University (NYU) returned the There is currently no news regarding a 4K

tapes to the Larry Rivers Foundation after Emma Rivers Tamburlini protested their inclusion in the university's acquired archive, describing the content as "child pornography". Availability : Because of these legal and ethical restrictions, the full documentary is not available for public download

or streaming on mainstream platforms. It is primarily discussed within the context of art history and the boundaries of artistic freedom. Related Documentary Work

For those interested in the artist's life and the "Bad Boy" legacy of the New York art scene, more recent and legally accessible documentaries explore his career: Larry Rivers: Bad Boy of the Art World (2023)

: This film investigates Rivers' boundary-pushing career and the moral complexities of his work, including the controversy. Larry Rivers: An American Master

: A shorter profile focusing on his transition from a jazz musician to a central figure in Pop Art. specific exhibitions where Larry Rivers' work is currently on display? N.Y.U. Doesn't Want Film of Larry Rivers's Naked Daughters 16 Jul 2010 —

Title: Rediscovering a Masterpiece: Larry Rivers’ "Growing" (1981) – An Update on Availability

For fans of avant-garde cinema and the New York art scene of the late 20th century, Larry Rivers’ documentary Growing (1981) stands as a fascinating time capsule. Known primarily as a painter and sculptor, Rivers brought his chaotic, jazz-influenced sensibility to film, resulting in a documentary that feels less like an observation and more like a living collage.

The Subject: The Golden Girls of Southampton Growing is perhaps best known for its candid, sometimes controversial, portrayal of two towering figures of high society: Rebekah Harkness and CZ Guest. Harkness, the heiress to the Standard Oil fortune, and Guest, the style icon, allowed Rivers into their rarefied world. The film captures the glamour of the Hamptons and Palm Beach, but through Rivers' lens, it also exposes the fragility, eccentricity, and the sheer oddity of extreme wealth. It is a documentary that dances on the line between tribute and satire.

The Aesthetic Unlike standard biographical documentaries, Growing is stylized and experimental. Rivers intercuts footage with artwork, musical interludes, and fragmented interviews. It captures the "Pop Art" era perfectly—the collision of high culture and bohemian art life. The Cool School (2008 – Directed by Morgan Neville)

Availability & The "Updated" Status For years, Growing was notoriously difficult to find. It never received a widespread commercial DVD release in the digital era, existing mostly on obscure VHS tapes traded among collectors or in museum archives.

However, interest has surged recently due to pop culture resurgences (most notably Taylor Swift’s connection to the Harkness history). If you are looking for an updated download or streaming link, here is the current situation:

Why It Matters Today In an age of curated Instagram lifestyles, Growing offers a raw, uncurated look at the original "influencers." It is a essential watch for anyone interested in American art history, the psychology of the ultra-wealthy, or the unique vision of Larry Rivers.

Have you managed to catch a screening of this rare gem? Let us know in the comments where film students and art lovers might look to view it today.

Suggested Tags: #LarryRivers #Growing1981 #AvantGardeCinema #RebekahHarkness #CZGuest #ArtDocumentary #NewYorkArt #RareFilms

Online communities dedicated to “lost media” have placed Growing on their most-wanted lists. For years, the only evidence of its existence were two grainy VHS copies held at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Whitney Museum.

TikTok / Reels: Larry becomes a serialized character. A recurring bit: “Larry’s 1981 Complaint of the Day” (e.g., “Why does your ‘Spotify’ not have a side A and side B?”). Each video ends with a CTA to “subscribe to the 1981 Larry Newsletter” (a Substack or Discord), migrating short-term views into long-term community.

YouTube (Longform): “Deep Dives into One Day in 1981.” Larry unpacks what happened on a random date—charts, news, TV listings, arcade highscores. These are low-competition, high-dwell-time videos that feed the algorithm’s hunger for watch time.

Twitch / Livestream: “Larry Plays 1981 Arcade Games (Emulated, with CRT filters).” The chat controls power-ups or chooses games. The retro-aesthetic plus interactive chaos is a reliable growth vector.