Richard Avedon - Photographs London Wednesday, November 2, 2016 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, 19 October 2006, lot 243

  • Literature

    R. Avedon, An Autobiography, Random House, 1993, pl. 214
    Richard Avedon: Evidence, 1944-1994, Random House, 1994, pp. 56, 161
    Richard Avedon: Portraits, Metropolitan Museum of Art/ Abrams, 2002, n.p.
    Richard Avedon: Photographs 1946-2004, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2007, pp. 124-125

  • Catalogue Essay

    ‘The white background isolates the subject from itself and permits you to explore the geography of the face; the unexplored continents in the human face.’

    Richard Avedon

  • 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.

    View More Works

Collection of Georges Bermann

7

Francis Bacon, artist, Paris, April 11, 1979

1979
Gelatin silver print.
35.7 x 56.1 cm (14 x 22 1/8 in.)
Signed, numbered 3/10 in ink, copyright credit reproduction limitation, title, date and edition stamps on the reverse of the linen flush-mount.

Estimate
£20,000 - 30,000 

Sold for £27,500

Contact Specialist
Genevieve Janvrin
Head of Photographs, Europe
+44 20 7318 4092

Photographs

London Auction 3 November 2016