Richard Avedon - Photographs London Wednesday, November 2, 2011 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

  • Literature

    (i) Richard Avedon: Portraits, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1976, n.p.; Richard Avedon: An Autobiography, New York: Random House, 1993, pl. 216; J. Livingston, A. Gopnik, Evidence, 1944–1994, Richard Avedon, New York: Random House, 1994, pp. 65 and 157; Woman in the Mirror: Richard Avedon, Harry N. Abrams/ The Richard Avedon Foundation, 2005, pp. 166–67; (ii) Richard Avedon: Portraits, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1976, n.p.; Richard Avedon: An Autobiography, New York: Random House, 1993, pl. 33; J. Livingston, A. Gopnik, Evidence, 1944–1994, Richard Avedon, New York: Random House, 1994, p. 157; M. M. Hambourg, M. Fineman, R. Avedon, P. de Montebello, Richard Avedon: Portraits, New York, Harry N. Abrams, 2002, n.p.

  • Catalogue Essay

    “A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion. There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.”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.

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THOMAS WALTHER COLLECTION

23

June Leaf, Sculptress, Mabou Mines, Nova Scotia, July 17, 1975; Robert Frank, Photographer, Mabou Mines, Nova Scotia, July 17, 1975

Two gelatin silver prints.
Each 24.5 x 19.5 cm (9 5/8 x 7 5/8 in).
Each signed, numbered 15/50, 19/50, respectively, in ink and copyright credit reproduction limitation, title, date, edition stamps on the verso.

Estimate
£9,000 - 12,000 

Sold for £15,000

Photographs

3 November 2011
London