Flip Schulke - Photographs London Friday, November 21, 2008 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Michael Hoppen Gallery, London

  • Literature

    Souvenir Press Ltd, F. Schulke and M. Schudel, Muhammad Ali: the Birth of a Legend, Miami, 1961-1964, 2000, cover

  • Catalogue Essay

    Flip Schulke was already an established photojournalist for LIFE, who had photographed Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, when in 1961 he was assigned to cover a story on a young Classius Clay. At this time Cassius Clay was yet to become the iconic figure that we know as Muhammed Ali today. Keen to be featured in LIFE, Ali played to Schulke's interest in underwater photography and claimed that he trained underwater in secret to ensure his story would be published. The resulting photographs from this shoot not only were published in LIFE, as was Ali's plan, but produced some of the most memorable sporting images of the era. Flip Schulke returned to this iconic image late in his life and produced less than 20 prints in this exceptional 'life' size. No others remain.

22

Muhammad Ali Boxing Underwater

1961
Gelatin silver print, printed later.
178.8 x 121.9 cm. (70 3/8 x 48 in).
Signed and copyright annotation in ink on a label affixed to the reverse of the frame.

Estimate
£6,000 - 8,000 

Sold for £37,250

Photographs

22 Nov 2008, 3pm
London