WILLIAM KLEIN (b. 1928)

In search of new talent, Vogue art director, Alexander Liberman hired young William Klein who became known for his grainy, blurry and bold street photography. Liberman said about his photographs, “In the fashion pictures of the Fifties, nothing like Klein had happened before. He went to extremes, which took a combination of great ego and courage. He pioneered the telephoto and wide-angle lenses, giving us a new perspective. He took fashion out of the studio into the streets, trying anything, stopping traffic, photographing models in waxworks, repainting shop fronts, hiring actors and dwarfs. He functioned like a Fellini, sensing the glamorous and the grotesque. ... He was the first to bring into photography what [Fernand] Léger achieved in art - the glorification of the life and rhythms of the street.”

Vintage prints of Klein’s fashion photographs are very rare. See also lots 44, 71 and 72.