Richard Avedon - Photographs New York Tuesday, October 2, 2012 | Phillips

Create your first list.

Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.

  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist
    Private Collection, New Jersey

  • Literature

    Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, Portraits: Richard Avedon, p. 54
    Harry N. Abrams, Richard Avedon Portraits, n.p.
    Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Richard Avedon: Photographs 1946-2004, p. 118
    Random House, Evidence, 1944-1994: Richard Avedon, p. 156
    Random House, Avedon: An Autobiography, pl. 217
    Steidl, Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power, p. 105

  • 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

181

William Burroughs, writer, New York City, July 9

1975
Gelatin silver print.
9 5/8 x 7 5/8 in. (24.4 x 19.4 cm)
Signed, numbered 27/50 in ink, copyright credit, reproduction limitation, title and date stamps on the verso.

Estimate
$8,000 - 12,000 

Sold for $15,000

Contact Specialist
Vanessa Kramer Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs
vhallett@phillips.com
+ 1 212 940 1245

Photographs

2 October 2012
New York