Richard Avedon - Photographs New York Monday, April 4, 2016 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist

  • Literature

    Random House, Richard Avedon: Evidence 1944-1994, p. 166

  • Catalogue Essay

    Avedon photographed Nobel Prize winning Russian poet Joseph Brodsky in 1991, the year Brodsky was named United States Poet Laureate. This print was produced three years later in conjunction with the Whitney Museum of American Art's monumental retrospective Richard Avedon Evidence: 1944-1994.

  • Artist Biography

    Richard Avedon

    American • 1923 - 2004

    From the inception of Richard Avedon's career, first at Harper's Bazaar and later at Vogue, Avedon challenged the norms for editorial photography. His fashion work gained recognition for its seemingly effortless and bursting energy, while his portraits were celebrated for their succinct eloquence. "I am always stimulated by people," Avedon has said, "almost never by ideas." 

    Indeed, as seen in his portraits — whether of famed movie stars or everyday people — the challenge for Avedon was conveying the essence of his subjects. His iconic images were usually taken on an 8 x 10 inch camera in his studio with a plain white background and strobe lighting, creating his signature minimalist style. Avedon viewed the making and production of photographs as a performance similar to literature and drama, creating portraits that are simultaneously intensely clear, yet deeply mysterious.

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218

Joseph Brodsky, poet, New York City, June 16

1991
Gelatin silver print.
39 7/8 x 32 1/8 in. (101.3 x 81.6 cm)
Signed, numbered 3/8 in pencil, title, date, copyright credit and Whitney Retrospective stamps on the reverse of the flush-mount.

Estimate
$15,000 - 25,000 

Sold for $18,750

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Photographs

New York Auction 4 April 2016