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

    Private Collection, California

  • Literature

    Harper’s Bazaar, September 1955, p. 215
    Avedon, Woman in the Mirror, p. 36
    Avedon & Brodkey, Avedon Photographs, 1947-1977, back cover and pl. 159
    Bailey & Harrison, Shots of Style: Great Fashion Portraits, cat. no. 7
    Davis, An American Century of Photography, From Dry-Plate to Digital: The Hallmark Photographic Collection, pl. 368
    Fraenkel Gallery, Richard Avedon: Made in France, n.p.
    Random House, Evidence, 1944-1994: Richard Avedon, p. 53
    Gee, Photography of the Fifties: An American Perspective, p. 84
    Hall-Duncan, The History of Fashion Photography, p. 137
    Harrison, Appearances: Fashion Photography since 1945, p. 73
    Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Avedon Fashion: 1944-2000, p. 137
    High Museum of Art, Chorus of Light: Photographs from the Sir Elton John Collection, p. 189
    Mazzola, 125 Great Moments of Harper’s Bazaar, pl. 3
    The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion, p. 50

  • 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

230

Dovima with Elephants, Evening dress by Dior, Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, August

1955
Gelatin silver print, printed later.
9 3/4 x 7 5/8 in. (24.8 x 19.4 cm)
Signed and numbered 4/100 in pencil, copyright credit reproduction limitation, title, date and edition stamps on the verso.

Estimate
$40,000 - 60,000 

Sold for $47,500

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Photographs

New York Auction 4 April 2016