Richard AvedonRichard Avedon Who Has a Better Right to Oppose the War (Vietnam protest poster)1969
1969
About the Item
- Creator:Richard Avedon (1923-2004, American)
- Creation Year:1969
- Dimensions:Height: 40 in (101.6 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:NEW YORK, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU354310302982
Richard Avedon
A while back, Richard Avedon had a confession to make. “I hate cameras,” said the man who revolutionized fashion and portrait photography. “If I could only work with my eyes alone!”
Yet Avedon’s photos seem to do just that — they remove the distance the camera lens creates to make you feel that you are right there beside his subjects.
Born in New York City in 1923, Avedon had a stern father, an artistic mother and a beautiful, but troubled, sister. At 18, he wanted to be a poet. And the slight, 5’7” dreamer didn’t lack confidence — or a sense of drama. “I know my drifting will not prove a loss / For mine is a rolling stone that has gathered moss,” he wrote in 1941.
A year later, Avedon joined the Merchant Marines, where he spent his World War II years shooting ID photos of new recruits. “I must have taken pictures of 100,000 faces before it occurred to me I was becoming a photographer,” he later recalled.
After demobilization in 1944, Avedon shot fashion pictures for the tony Manhattan department store Bonwit Teller and studied with Alexey Brodovitch, the legendary art director of Harper’s Bazaar. By 1945, his work was appearing in Junior Bazaar.
“His first photographs for us were technically very bad,” Brodovitch later recalled. “But they were not snapshots. . . . Those first pictures of his had freshness and individuality, and they showed enthusiasm and a willingness to take chances.”
Who else was willing to take chances? Brodovitch and Carmel Snow, editor in chief of Harper’s Bazaar, who soon sent the young talent to fashion’s sacred capital, Paris.
The postwar years were hard in Paris. When Avedon first arrived there, in 1946, it was with an explicit directive from Snow. “Dick was tasked with this idea that he was there to rebuild Paris,” explains Martin. In restoring the energy and excitement around Paris, Avedon imbued it with some of his own.
Avedon’s models jumped, twirled, leapt over puddles and they smiled. Like Avedon himself, they rarely stood still. While he wasn’t the first to use action in fashion photography (in the 1930s, Martin Munkacsi and Toni Frissell began creating fashion images of women engaged in sporty scenarios), Avedon was the first to pair such vitality with women wearing couture.
Character and spirit became la mode. Dovima’s graceful silhouette juxtaposed against the wrinkled heft of two shackled elephants. Dorian Leigh laughing and embracing a bicycle racer. Suzy Parker roller skating across the Place de la Concorde. Sunny Harnett and her cool gaze just daring the roulette table — and every man in the room — not to do her bidding. There was always a narrative in an Avedon mise en scène — whether the background was elaborately staged or stark, the model’s job had forever changed from posing, to acting.
Of course, Avedon did not limit himself to fashion photography. The little boy who once collected autographs grew up to create the most iconic portraits of the 20th century, many of these were included in an exhibition at Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton, New York, in 2017.
A 1958 New Yorker profile noted that even though Avedon’s portraits immortalized cultural elites such as Truman Capote, Elsa Maxwell and Charles Laughton, the qualities that most interested the photographer were “advanced age, physical debility, ugliness, or the pathos underlying the surface insouciance.” Yet “none of Avedon’s subjects seem to resent this kind of treatment . . . being selected to sit for one of his Harper’s Bazaar portraits ranks as an accolade.”
Over the next 40-plus years of his career, his iconic portraiture never lost its force; although at times, his unvarnished truth felt cruel.
But Avedon was a creator, not an observer, and he made no apologies for this. The sitter and the photographer “have separate ambitions for the image,” he wrote in 1985. “His need to plead his case probably goes as deep as my need to plead mine, but the control is with me.”
Find original Richard Avedon photography on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Roy Lichtenstein As I Opened Fire (set of 3 lithographic posters)By (after) Roy LichtensteinLocated in NEW YORK, NYRoy Lichtenstein As I Opened Fire, set of 3 Lithographic Posters: An authorized reproduction of Roy Lichtenstein's painting entitled "As I Op...Category
1960s Pop Art Prints and Multiples
MaterialsLithograph, Offset
- Basquiat Paris 1998 (vintage Basquiat announcement)By after Jean-Michel BasquiatLocated in NEW YORK, NYBasquiat Paris 1998: Rare vintage original announcement card to the exhibit, Jean-Michel Basquiat Temoignage 1977-1988, Galerie Jerome De Noirmont, Paris, 1998: 6 x 9 inches (folde...Category
1980s Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsOffset, Lithograph
- KAWS The Aldrich 2011 (vintage KAWS announcement)By KAWSLocated in NEW YORK, NYKAWS The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (June 27, 2010 to January 2, 2011, Ridgefield, CT): Rare original program to KAWS' first solo exhibition. Staple-bound museum program; approximately 10-15 pages featuring photos & text highlighting the evolution of the artist. Offset printed; 6.5 x 10.5 inches (folded closed). Very good overall condition. Scarce. About KAWS: “KAWS” are a graffiti artist, illustrator, painter, sculptor, product designer and toymaker. His cartoonish style, including his best-known characters with X-ed out eyes has its roots in his early career as a street artist, when he began replacing advertisements with his own, masterful acrylic paintings in the early, 1990s. Since, Kaws has embraced the commercialist spirit of Claes Oldenburg and Takashi Murakami, designing everything from Kanye West album covers to NIKE sneakers...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Prints and Multiples
MaterialsLithograph, Offset
- Milton Glaser Temple University Music Festival poster (Milton Glaser posters)By Milton GlaserLocated in NEW YORK, NYMilton Glaser Temple University Music Festival, 1975: Vintage original 1970s Milton Glaser poster designed by Milton Glaser on the occasion of the T...Category
1960s Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsOffset, Lithograph
- Raymond Pettibon Black Flag 1984 (Raymond Pettibon punk flyer)By Raymond PettibonLocated in NEW YORK, NYRaymond Pettibon Black Flag: Rare 1984 Raymond Pettibon illustrated Black Flag promotional flyer published to advertise the release of the Black Flag album 'Slip It In'. Offset prin...Category
1980s Pop Art Prints and Multiples
MaterialsLithograph, Offset
- Keith Haring 1990 Memorial announcement (Keith Haring prints posters)By (after) Keith HaringLocated in NEW YORK, NYKeith Haring Memorial 1990: Original announcement to Keith Haring’s memorial exhibition, ‘Keith Haring Early Works on Paper,’ at Tony Shafrazi Gallery, 1990. The exhibition was held from May 4th to June 2nd, 1990. Printed on heavy stock textured paper; measures 7.25 x 7.25 inches. Very good condition. A classic, vintage Keith Haring collectible. Keith Haring was an American artist and social activist known for his illustrative depictions of figures and symbols. His white chalk drawings could often been found on the blank poster marquees in New York’s public spaces and subways. “I don't think art is propaganda,” he once stated. “It should be something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further. It celebrates humanity instead of manipulating it.” Born on May 4, 1958 in Reading, PA, he grew up in neighboring Kutztown, where he was inspired to draw from an early age by Walt Disney cartoons and his father who was an amateur cartoonist. After briefly studying commercial art in Pittsburgh, Haring came across a show of the works of Pierre Alechinksy and decided to pursue a career in fine art instead. He moved to New York in the late 1970s to attend the School of Visual Arts, and soon immersed himself in the city’s graffiti culture. By the mid-1980s, he had befriended fellow artists Andy Warhol, Kenny Scharf, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and collaborated with celebrities like the singer Grace Jones. Diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1988, Haring’s prodigious career was brief, and he died of AIDS-related complications on February 16, 1990 at the age of 31. Before his death, Haring established the Keith Haring Foundation, a non-profit committed to raising awareness of the illness through art programing and community outreach. Throughout his career, Haring made his art widely available through the location of his murals, as well as through the Pop Shop—Haring's own storefront which he used to sell his memorabilia.The artist’s mural Crack is Wack (1986), can still be seen today on a retaining wall along FDR Drive in Manhattan. Haring’s works can be found in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Related Categories: Keith Haring snakes. Keith Haring posters. Keith Haring and Tony Shafrazi. Keith Haring pyramid...Category
1980s Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsOffset, Lithograph
- TAKASHI MURAKAMI: DAZZLING CIRCUS Flowers & Skulls Japanese Pop Art RedBy Takashi MurakamiLocated in Madrid, MadridDAZZLING CIRCUS: EMBRACE PEACE AND DARKNESS WITHIN THY HEART Date of creation: 2016 Medium: Offset lithograph with silver Edition: 300 Size: 68.9 × 53 cm Condition: In mint condition...Category
2010s Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsVarnish, Lithograph, Offset
- Liz F&S II.7By Andy WarholLocated in New York, NY1964 Offset lithograph in colors, on wove paper Sheet: 23 1/8 x 23 1/8 in. Edition of 300 Signed and dated in ballpoint pen, lower right Unframed, pristine conditionCategory
1960s Pop Art Figurative Prints
MaterialsOffset, Paper, Lithograph
- Vintage Pop Art 1997 Offset Lithograph Larry Rivers Music Poster Hamptons NYBy Larry RiversLocated in Surfside, FLLarry Rivers "The Music Festival of the Hamptons / July 18-27 1997" poster, Not hand signed. [Dimensions: 24" H x 18" W] Larry Rivers (born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg) (1923 – 2002) was an American artist, musician, filmmaker, and occasional actor. Considered by many scholars to be the "Godfather" and "Grandfather" of Pop art, he was one of the first artists to merge non-objective, non-narrative art with narrative and objective abstraction. Rivers took up painting in 1945 and studied at the Hans Hofmann School from 1947–48. He earned a BA in art education from New York University in 1951. His work was quickly acquired by the Museum of Modern Art. A 1953 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware was damaged in fire at the museum five years later. He was a pop artist of the New York School, reproducing everyday objects of American popular culture as art. He was one of eleven New York artists featured in the opening exhibition at the Terrain Gallery in 1955 along with Paul Mommer, Leonard Baskin, Peter Grippe During the early 1960s Rivers lived in the Hotel Chelsea, notable for its artistic residents such as Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, Arthur C. Clarke, Dylan Thomas, Sid Vicious and multiple people associated with Andy Warhol Factory and where he brought several of his French nouveau réalistes friends like Yves Klein who wrote there in April 1961 his Manifeste de l'hôtel Chelsea, Arman, Martial Raysse, Jean Tinguely, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Christo & Jean Claude, Daniel Spoerri or Alain Jacquet, several of whom, like Rivers, left some pieces of art in the lobby of the hotel for payment of their rooms. In 1965, Rivers had his first comprehensive retrospective in five important American museums. His final work for the exhibition was The History of the Russian Revolution, which was later on extended permanent display at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. He spent 1967 in London collaborating with the American painter Howard Kanovitz. In 1968, Rivers traveled to Africa for a second time with Pierre Dominique Gaisseau to finish their documentary Africa and I, which was a part of the groundbreaking NBC series Experiments in Television. During this trip they narrowly escaped execution as suspected mercenaries. During the 1970s, Rivers worked closely with Diana Molinari and Michel Auder on many video tape projects, including the infamous Tits, and also worked in neon. Rivers's legs appeared in John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1971 film Up Your Legs Forever. From 1940–1945 he worked as a jazz saxophonist in New York City, changing his name to Larry Rivers in 1940 after being introduced as "Larry Rivers and the Mudcats" at a local pub. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music in 1945–46, along with Miles Davis, with whom he remained friends until Davis's death in 1991. Larry Rivers was born in the Bronx to Samuel and Sonya Grossberg, Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. In 1945, he married Augusta Berger, and they had one son, Steven. Rivers also adopted Berger's son from a previous relationship, Joseph, and reared both children after the couple divorced. In 1949 he had his first one-man exhibition at the Jane Street Gallery in New York. This same year, he met and became friends with John Ashbery, and Kenneth Koch. In 1950 he met Frank O’Hara. This same year he took his first trip to Europe spending eight months in Paris, France, reading and writing poetry. Beginning in 1950 and continuing until Frank’s death in July of 1966, Larry Rivers and Frank O’Hara cultivated a uniquely creative friendship that produced numerous collaborations, as well as inspired paintings and poems. In 1951 Rivers’ works were shown at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery where he continued to show annually (except 1955) for about 10 years. In 1954 he had his first exhibition of sculptures at the Stable Gallery, New York. In 1955 The Museum of Modern Art acquired Washington Crossing the Delaware. This same year he won 3rd prize in the Corcoran Gallery national painting competition for “Self-Figure.” Rivers’ also painted “Double Portrait of Berdie” in 1955, which was soon purchased by the Whitney Museum. In 1957 he and Frank O’Hara began work on “Stones,” a collaborative mix of images and poetry in a series of lithograph for Tatyana Grosman company ULAE. During this time he also appeared on the television game show “The $64,000.00 Question” where along with another contestant, they both won, each receiving $32,000.00. In 1958 he again spent time in Paris and played in various jazz bands. In 1959 he painted Cedar Bar Menu...Category
1990s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Offset
- April KennedyBy Agent XLocated in Kansas City, MOAgent X Title : April Kennedy Year: 2019 Medium: Digital Print Signed Edition: 125 70 x 70 inches Agent X, cultural explorer and agent of the unknown, i...Category
2010s Pop Art Prints and Multiples
MaterialsLithograph, Offset
- The Wrapped (MCA), Chicago 1969 (Limited Edition of 200, Hand Signed by Christo)By Christo and Jeanne-ClaudeLocated in New York, NYChristo and Jeanne-Claude The Wrapped (MCA), 1969 (Hand Signed), 2019 Four-color offset lithograph on 110 lb. Crane Lettra Cover stock, with an elegant gold foil stamp. Hand Signed by Christo 22 3/5 × 30 inches Edition of 200 Hand-signed by artist, Signed in graphite pencil by Christo on the front. Also elegant gold foil stamp. Unnumbered from the documented limited edition of only 200 Published by Museum of Contemporary Art, (MCA) Chicago Unframed A great gift for anyone with ties to Chicago! This limited-edition, hand signed offset lithograph on 110 lb. Crane Lettra Cover stock commemorates Christo's exhibition "Wrap In Wrap Out", which took place at the MCA’s original location on 237 East Ontario Street, Chicago. The project became the first public building Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, wrapped in the United States. In an illuminating 2010 article entitled, "A daring plan to wrap a Chicago museum raises city ire – and makes art history," author Robin Amer recounts how Christo came to choose Chicago -- or rather how Chicago chose New York based artist Christo: "During a recent conversation he [Christo] ticked off the list of buildings he approached in downtown Manhattan starting in 1961. “Number 2 Broadway, number 20 Exchange Place,” he recalled. “We tried to wrap a building at Times Square. They all said no. Christo said he quickly realized that his best hope to wrap a building – his first in North America – would be to wrap a museum, which might be more amenable to his strange proposition.Christo and Jeanne-Claude approached New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1967. The museum was interested, but Christo said they failed to secure permission for the show from the New York Fire...Category
1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsFoil
- LOVE in Central Park, New York Pencil Signed and numbered 66/89, Historic printBy Robert IndianaLocated in New York, NYRobert Indiana LOVE in Central Park, New York, 1971 Color lithograph on wove paper. Pencil signed, dated and numbered with LOVE drawing/flourish Hand-signed by artist, Pencil signed, dated and numbered 66/ 89. Also bears a drawing of the stacked letters LOVE in pencil. Bears Robert Indiana's copyright Published by Robert Indiana and printed by the American Poster Company to raise money for Central Park 39 × 30 inches Unframed This impressively large 1971 lithograph - pencil signed and numbered from the limited edition of only 89, with a stacked LOVE drawing on the front - depicts Robert Indiana's iconic LOVE sculpture (from the permanent collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art) when it was exhibited at Central Park in New York City. This was the turn of the decade of the 1970s - during the height of the anti-Vietnam War protests of the Nixon Administration, when the presence of Indiana's monumental cor-ten steel LOVE in Central Park took on a much deeper significance in New York and indeed the country. This important print is pencil signed, dated and numbered by Robert Indiana from the very small edition of only 89. It also bears a drawing - a flourish - of the word LOVE written by the artist in pencil. Very few of the signed editions of this print remain -- so it is rarely seen on the market. Indeed, eighty nine (89) is a very small edition; however, this oversized print was used for promotional purposes in public places, so very few of the 89 signed and numbered works remain - let alone with the original stacked love drawing. . If you LOVE Robert Indiana...Category
1970s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Pencil, Offset