139
Richard Avedon
Audrey Hepburn, New York, January
- Estimate
- $40,000 - 60,000
Lot Details
Gelatin silver print and original maquette of gelatin silver prints.
1967
Image 15 3/8 x 19 3/8 in. (39.1 x 49.2 cm)
Maquette 16 3/8 x 18 3/4 in. (41.6 x 47.6 cm)
Maquette 16 3/8 x 18 3/4 in. (41.6 x 47.6 cm)
'Please Return to Art Archives' and 'Original Art' stamps on the reverse of the maquette mount.
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Catalogue Essay
Taken in 1967, Avedon created this photograph when he was a faculty member at the Famous Photographer’s School in Westport. It is accompanied by the original maquette that he fabricated as a guide for his printing technicians so that they could achieve the effect of the multiple exposures that Avedon intended and that we see, here, in the final print. Recently exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop, this image shows the creative manipulation and ingenuity that made Avedon a master in the field of photography.
Provenance
Exhibited
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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