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Lot 104 Richard Avedon was one of the most celebrated fashion and portrait photographers of his generation. His expansive oeuvre, from his celebrated magazine covers and advertisement campaigns, to his documentary reportage and formal portraiture, 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 (1944-65), and then at Vogue (1966-90) and The New Yorker (1992-2004), Avedon conceived photographs that, while deeply embedded in the tradition of photography, pushed the discipline’s confinements to new frontiers. In his fashion photographs, this meant moving away from a static style, to one that showed models full of life, smiling and more often than not, mid-action. His equally celebrated portraits, meanwhile, are distinguished by a minimalist style that utilized clothes, gestures, and above all facial expressions to produce elegant yet gritty works that capture the true personality and soul of his subjects. In doing so, Avedon’s work documents the political, social, economic, and cultural changes taking place in the United States and around the world in a way that resonated with the modernist zeitgeist of his age.
During a long career which saw him work first at Harper’s Bazaar (1944-65), and then at Vogue (1966-90) and The New Yorker (1992-2004), Avedon conceived photographs that, while deeply embedded in the tradition of photography, pushed the discipline’s confinements to new frontiers. In his fashion photographs, this meant moving away from a static style, to one that showed models full of life, smiling and more often than not, mid-action. His equally celebrated portraits, meanwhile, are distinguished by a minimalist style that utilized clothes, gestures, and above all facial expressions to produce elegant yet gritty works that capture the true personality and soul of his subjects. In doing so, Avedon’s work documents the political, social, economic, and cultural changes taking place in the United States and around the world in a way that resonated with the modernist zeitgeist of his age.
RICHARD AVEDON (1923-2004)
Lauren Hutton, Great Exuma, The Bahamas, October 1968
Closed17 May 2018
Price Realised
GBP 68,750