RICHARD AVEDON
Richard Avedon’s dynamic, stylized portraits helped bridge the worlds of fashion and fine art photography. Avedon captured his staged subjects on black-and-white film, sometimes in motion. He turned his probing, intimate gaze on both everyday civilians and cultural icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Malcolm X. Avedon served as a photographer in the military before working as both a freelancer and staff photographer for publications including Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, The New Yorker, Life, and others. While he is widely known for his commercial and editorial practices, Avedon also exhibited widely in cities including New York, Paris, and London. Throughout his lifetime, he published a number of books of collected photography.
Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent, Los Angeles, California, 1981
Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent, Los Angeles, California, 1981
Image size 82 × 125 cm
Frame size 113 × 153 cm
Gelatin silver print
Edition 93/200
Signed, editioned in pencil verso with copyright credit reproduction limitation and title, date and edition stamps
“DOVIMA WITH ELEPHANTS, EVENING DRESS BY DIOR, CIRQUE D'HIVER, PARIS, AUGUST 1955”
This photo of Dovima with elephants is one of the most recognizable in the world. It was made for Christian Dior’s fall/winter 1995 collection and was first published in the September issue of Harper’s Bazaar. The photograph was taken at the Cirque d’Hiver in Paris. ‘A position in dance. I saw the elephants under an enormous skylight and in a second I knew I then had to find the right dress and I knew that there was potential here for a kind of dream image,’ Richard Avedon recalled. The gown was the first serious work by 19-year-old Yves Saint-Laurent, Dior’s assistant. Dovima (Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba) composed her pseudonym from the first two letters of her three given names. She was the most sought-after fashion model in the world and the highest-paid model at Vogue. Avedon called her the ideal of femininity and sensuality. By placing her between two wild animals, he created a contrast between the girl’s fragility and the elephants’ power, demonstrating how vulnerable, delicate, and brave his model was. © The Richard Avedon Foundation
“VERUSHKA DRESS BY BILL BLASS, NEW YORK, 1967”
Avedon’s portraits are known for their minimalism and were taken under bright lights against a white background. Models could move freely in his spacious studio, which created the effect of spontaneity in his images. In this photograph Veruschka (Vera Gräfin von Lehndorff-Steinort, or Veruschka, as she called herself) is standing in a ballet dancer pose. The light movement of her dress, which is raising immodestly, creates a natural bulbous shape that befits her slender body. The dress was created by American designer Bill Blass and became the ideal choice for this beautiful shot. The effect of the quick and spontaneous movement of the female body is created by numerous lines that contradict the typical static shapes of the 1950s. When Avedon worked with models like Veruschka, he often caught their movements by moving in sync with them, and his camera was always ready to capture an elusive moment. Veruschka, whom Avedon called the most beautiful woman in the world, was his close friend and colleague. She helped him to develop new features of aesthetics. She called her collaboration with Richard Avedon an ‘ultimately creative’ partnership and said that he was the greatest photographer of those she had the pleasure to work with. © The Richard Avedon Foundation