36
Richard Avedon
Marella Agnelli, New York Studio, December
- Estimate
- £30,000 - 40,000‡
£37,500
Lot Details
Gelatin silver print, printed 1981.
1953
59.7 x 47.3 cm (23 1/2 x 18 5/8 in)
Signed, numbered 8/50 in ink, copyright credit reproduction limitation and edition stamps on the reverse of the linen flush-mount. One from an edition of 50.
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Catalogue Essay
“All my first models, Dorian Leigh, Elise Daniels, Carmen, Marella Agnelli, Audrey Hepburn, were brunettes and had fine noses, long throats, oval faces. They were all memories of my sister. My sense of what was beautiful was established very early through the way in which I experienced her.”
RICHARD AVEDON
Richard Avedon’s ethereal portrait of the aristocratic wife of late Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli first appeared in the April 1954 issue of Harper’s Bazaar in a story entitled ‘Beauties of Our Time’. The young Avedon worked with Bazaar’s infuential art director Alexey Brodovitch who allowed his image to be fopped for publication with the portrait reproduced full-bleed on the lef-hand page and the text at right, mirroring the sinuous curves of Agnelli’s head and body which Avedon had elongated manually in the dark room. Agnelli was one of writer Truman Capote’s famous ‘swans’ – well-married, international, best-dressed ladies who also included Mrs. William S. (‘Babe’) Paley and Mrs. Winston (‘CZ’) Guest.
RICHARD AVEDON
Richard Avedon’s ethereal portrait of the aristocratic wife of late Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli first appeared in the April 1954 issue of Harper’s Bazaar in a story entitled ‘Beauties of Our Time’. The young Avedon worked with Bazaar’s infuential art director Alexey Brodovitch who allowed his image to be fopped for publication with the portrait reproduced full-bleed on the lef-hand page and the text at right, mirroring the sinuous curves of Agnelli’s head and body which Avedon had elongated manually in the dark room. Agnelli was one of writer Truman Capote’s famous ‘swans’ – well-married, international, best-dressed ladies who also included Mrs. William S. (‘Babe’) Paley and Mrs. Winston (‘CZ’) Guest.
Literature
Richard Avedon
American | B. 1923 D. 2004From 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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