Richard Avedon - Photographs London Tuesday, November 22, 2022 | Phillips
  • “I am, and forever will be, devastated by the gift of Audrey Hepburn before my camera.”
    —Richard Avedon

    From the inception of his outstanding career, first at Harper’s Bazaar and later at Vogue, Richard Avedon challenged the norms of 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 explained, ‘almost never by ideas.’ Avedon’s interest in people is on full display in his playful photograph of the incomparably elegant Audrey Hepburn. Hepburn, in the good company of supermodels Simone D’Aillencourt and Barbara Mullen, receives the attentions of American humourist Art Buchwald. Actor Reginald Kernan and Avedon’s assistant Frederick Eberstadt round out the trio of gentlemen, and the picture draws its energy from the interplay of the characters with one another and is compositionally anchored by Hepburn’s slyly side-eyed glance. In this refined composition, Avedon perfectly encapsulates the persona of one of the most beloved figures in the history of film and fashion.

    • Provenance

      Philips, New York, 2 October 2012, lot 33

    • Literature

      Harper's Bazaar, September 1959, pp. 154-55 (variant)
      R. Avedon & H. Brodkey, Photographs, 1947-1977, New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1978, pl. 40
      Avedon Fashion: 1944-2000, New York: Abrams, 2009, pp. 112-113

    • 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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PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION

66

Audrey Hepburn and Art Buchwald with Simone, Barbara Mullen, Frederick Eberstadt and Dr. Reginald Kernan, Evening Dresses by Balmain, Dior, Patou, Maxim's, Paris, August

1959
Gelatin silver print, printed later.
42.5 x 59.7 cm (16 3/4 x 23 1/2 in.)
Signed, numbered 2/25 in pencil, copyright credit reproduction limitation, title and date stamps on the verso.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
£40,000 - 60,000 

Contact Specialist

Rachel Peart
Head of Department, London

RPeart@phillips.com

Yuka Yamaji
Head of Photographs, Europe

YYamaji@phillips.com

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Photographs

London Auction 22 November 2022