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Lot Essay
One of the most celebrated fashion and portrait photographers of his generation, Richard Avedon’s expansive oeuvre, from fashion photographs and advertisement campaigns, to his documentary reportage and formal portraiture, influenced and defined images of beauty, style and culture, from the wake of World War II to the first years of the new millennium. During a long career which saw him work first at Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and The New Yorker, Avedon conceived pictures that, while deeply embedded in the tradition of photography, pushed the discipline’s confinements to new frontiers.
Under the tutelage of Alexey Brodovitch and editorship of Carmel Snow, Avedon leaped onto the scene at Harper’s Bazaar in 1944. Inspired by the work of Martin Munkacsi, his images animated the magazine page, moving away from a static style, to one that showed models full of life, smiling and, more often than not, mid-action. When a young Christian Dior was unveiling his ‘New Look’ of the season in 1947; Avedon was there to document it. And these photographs, along with others made in the 1950s, have become icons of the genre, reinventing the language of fashion photography.
Indeed, Paris was an inspiration for Avedon; a place of romance, elegance, style and fun ‘… it is surely his Paris work of this era that most memorably expresses the effervescent elegance of his youthful vision.’ P. Garner, ‘Richard Avedon: A Double-Sided Mirror’, in Avedon Fashion: 1944 – 2000, New York 2009, p. 19. He returned to Paris countless times over the years for Harper’s Bazaar and in 1957 consulted on the filming of Funny Face starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire as photographer Dick Avery; a parody on fashion world Avedon himself was part of. Hepburn would again work with Avedon in Paris for his famous shoot, ‘Paris Pursuit’ for Harper’s Bazaar in 1959, an extensive fashion story which demonstrated Avedon’s expression as artist, not merely photographer as he is credited as Art Director on the title spreads.
This portfolio of selected images shot in Paris was created in conjunction with Avedon’s first exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 1976; Avedon Photographs: 1947 – 1977 ? he was the first living photographer to ever be granted a show there and again in 2002. The theme of the exhibition was his fashion work, though the non-specific title invited spectators to read the images within frames of reference far broader than the label 'fashion' might have implied. This was the context in which Avedon created the present portfolio and no further prints having been made from these negatives with the exception of a limited number made in connection with museum exhibitions. Richard Avedon’s photographs have been exhibited in numerous major solo museum exhibitions, including The Smithsonian Institute, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Amon Carter Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Under the tutelage of Alexey Brodovitch and editorship of Carmel Snow, Avedon leaped onto the scene at Harper’s Bazaar in 1944. Inspired by the work of Martin Munkacsi, his images animated the magazine page, moving away from a static style, to one that showed models full of life, smiling and, more often than not, mid-action. When a young Christian Dior was unveiling his ‘New Look’ of the season in 1947; Avedon was there to document it. And these photographs, along with others made in the 1950s, have become icons of the genre, reinventing the language of fashion photography.
Indeed, Paris was an inspiration for Avedon; a place of romance, elegance, style and fun ‘… it is surely his Paris work of this era that most memorably expresses the effervescent elegance of his youthful vision.’ P. Garner, ‘Richard Avedon: A Double-Sided Mirror’, in Avedon Fashion: 1944 – 2000, New York 2009, p. 19. He returned to Paris countless times over the years for Harper’s Bazaar and in 1957 consulted on the filming of Funny Face starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire as photographer Dick Avery; a parody on fashion world Avedon himself was part of. Hepburn would again work with Avedon in Paris for his famous shoot, ‘Paris Pursuit’ for Harper’s Bazaar in 1959, an extensive fashion story which demonstrated Avedon’s expression as artist, not merely photographer as he is credited as Art Director on the title spreads.
This portfolio of selected images shot in Paris was created in conjunction with Avedon’s first exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 1976; Avedon Photographs: 1947 – 1977 ? he was the first living photographer to ever be granted a show there and again in 2002. The theme of the exhibition was his fashion work, though the non-specific title invited spectators to read the images within frames of reference far broader than the label 'fashion' might have implied. This was the context in which Avedon created the present portfolio and no further prints having been made from these negatives with the exception of a limited number made in connection with museum exhibitions. Richard Avedon’s photographs have been exhibited in numerous major solo museum exhibitions, including The Smithsonian Institute, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Amon Carter Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art.