Live Auction 22050The Collection of Sir Elton John: Opening Night
RICHARD AVEDON (1923-2004)
Lot 29

RICHARD AVEDON (1923-2004)

Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent, Los Angeles, California, June 14, 1981

Closed21 February 2024

Price Realised

USD 151,200

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RICHARD AVEDON (1923-2004)
Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent, Los Angeles, California, June 14, 1981
gelatin silver print
signed and numbered '87⁄200' in pencil (verso)
image: 32 5⁄8 x48 7⁄8 in. (82.8 x 124.1 cm.)
sheet: 34 5⁄8 x 51 ¾ in. (87.9 x 131.4 cm.)
This work is number eighty-seven from an edition of 200.

Donated by The Richard Avedon Studio for the Elton John Aids Foundation, Art Auction, May 1996, lot 1;
acquired from the above sale by the present owner.

Specialist note

When you look at the photograph it all looks so easy. She spent two hours on a cement floor naked. The snake was going up on her shoulder and toward her face... She rose to the moment, I rose to the moment, the snake rose to the moment. And it was one of those absolutely magical things that happen when nothing you planned could equal the random accident of something beautiful.
RICHARD AVEDON