Jonathan BeckerElaine's Kitchen - Andy Warhol and Elaine, New York, 19762020
2020
About the Item
- Creator:Jonathan Becker (1954, American)
- Creation Year:2020
- Dimensions:Height: 49.125 in (124.78 cm)Width: 48.875 in (124.15 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:
Jonathan Becker
With a style at once impactful, reflective and irreverent, photographer Jonathan Becker belongs more to the artistic than the documentarian realm, masterfully capturing a theatrical sense of the unexpected as he offers glimpses into rarefied worlds.
Bea Feitler — the late, legendary artistic director responsible for vamping up Harper’s Bazaar and Rolling Stone in the 1960s and ’70s — gave Becker his first big break, in 1981, when she asked him to submit images for the relaunch of Vanity Fair.
Becker, who was 26 at the time, had already been the first Paris-based photographer for W magazine and had forged a close friendship with French-Hungarian Surrealist photographer Brassaï, who was then in his 70s. By this age, too, Becker had also developed an enviable reputation as a portrait photographer working on Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine and alongside Slim Aarons and Norman Parkinson at Town & Country, although he knew not to step on his famous colleagues’ toes. “I was a young little interloper,” he says. “I learned more by listening and watching those giants than by trying to engage in any direct interactions with them.”
The young photographer, who was moonlighting at the time as a New York City cab driver, hadn’t dreamed that the project would put his pictures on an equal footing with those of legends of the medium: Also contributing to this debut edition were some of photography’s most revered names, including Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and Helmut Newton, as well as rising star Annie Leibovitz, whose popularity had recently skyrocketed, thanks to her Rolling Stone cover picture of a naked John Lennon curled up alongside a fully clothed Yoko Ono.
That issue was a game changer in modern magazine publishing, with Vanity Fair setting the bar for engaging editorial and daring design for decades to come. It also signaled the making of a man: Becker’s talent for visual storytelling shone through in his avant-gardist tribute, and the magazine’s creative team kept him on, marking the start of his long career there.
As a regular Vanity Fair contributor, Becker operated in the highest echelons of society, traveling the world and immortalizing countless A-list movers, shakers and thinkers from the fields of fashion, culture and politics, not to mention royalty.
Becker's unconventional way of directing his eye is clearly instinctual, resulting in an unusual aesthetic that mixes perception, myth and reality in equal measure. This balance is most apparent in his famous black-and-white picture of Robert Mapplethorpe, taken in 1988 at the opening of Mapplethorpe’s retrospective exhibition at the Whitney, when the famed photographer was dying of AIDS. It is a group shot, showing various figures at different angles, in which Mapplethorpe, caught in profile and listening intently to a woman kneeling beside him, seems to stop time. The moment is heavy with emotion and also dreamlike. It is ineffably surreal.
Becker has given us Stephen King as a cross-eyed zombie (1980); Dustin Hoffman as a mischief maker, lounging on a stack of sun loungers at the Beverly Hills Hotel (2004); and Diana Vreeland as an aging Raphaelesque Madonna dressed in a voluminous black gown and sitting cross-legged in her famous red-clad living room at 550 Park Avenue (1979). The photographer, a lover of spontaneity who deftly plays with perspectives, keeps us intrigued with his open-ended narratives.
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1970s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Ai Weiwei in his studio, Beijing, 12 May 2007By Jonathan BeckerLocated in New York, NYAi Weiwei in his studio, Beijing, 12 May 2007 X Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 44" x 44.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 9 Certificate of Origin Signed and ...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Photography
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- David Bowie, Damien Hirst, & Julian Schnabel, New York, 3 May 1996By Jonathan BeckerLocated in New York, NYDavid Bowie, Damien Hirst, and Julian Schnabel at Hirst's Opening, Gagosian Gallery, New York, 3 May 1996 X Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 44" x 44.5" Archival Pigmen...Category
1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Saturday Night Live in Elaine's Kitchen, 1976By Jonathan BeckerLocated in New York, NYElaine's Kitchen - Saturday Night Live • Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi & Lorne Michaels, New York, January 1976 Photographed by Jonathan ...Category
1970s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Martha Graham with Madonna & Calvin Klein at New York City Center, October 1990By Jonathan BeckerLocated in New York, NYMartha Graham at New York City Center after her final onstage bow - backstage with Madonna and Calvin Klein, October 1990 "Martha was my godmother, and she was posing." - JB Photog...Category
1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography
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- Emma in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, April 1984By Jonathan BeckerLocated in New York, NYEmma in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, 1984 Pão de Açucar, (Sugarloaf Mountain), Rio’s defining landmark looms in the background. Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 14" x 14.5...Category
1980s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsPlatinum
- Monkey with Mask - Animal Portrait with Mask, Fine Art Photography, 1992By Albert WatsonLocated in Vienna, ATAll prints are limited edition. Available in multiple sizes. High-end framing on request. All prints are done and signed by the artist. The collector receives an additional certific...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Black and White Photography
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- Lauren Hutton - fashion portrait with photographer, fine art photography, 1975By Arthur ElgortLocated in Vienna, ATAll prints are limited edition. Available in multiple sizes. High-end framing on request. All prints are done and signed by the artist. The collector receives an additional certificate of authenticity from the gallery. Lauren Hutton was a Supermodel in the 70s. This image, created by Arthur Elgort...Category
1970s Contemporary Black and White Photography
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- Julia Roberts - portrait of the actress between tires, fine art photography 1998By Timothy WhiteLocated in Vienna, ATAll prints are limited edition. Available in multiple sizes. High-end framing on request. All prints are done and signed by the artist. The collector receives an additional certificate of authenticity from the gallery. Julia Roberts is one of the most successful and versatile actresses of our time. Her roles established an image as a sweet but headstrong woman for her and in this portrait, timothy white played on this. Julia is depicted sitting, facing the camera. She is wearing a sweater, wide pants and knee-high boots. She is leaning forward, resting her elbows on her knees. The subtle smile on her lips is giving her a soft expression. Around her, old car tires are stacked, creating a wall behind her and contrasting her light skin and her soft expression. Timothy White is a leading figure in contemporary photography. For over twenty years, White has been one of the most productive and sought after celebrity portrait photographers in the field. His archive is one of the most extensive in the world and includes Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Billy Joel, Julia Roberts, Keith Richards, Ray Charles, James Brown, Queen Latifah...Category
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- Vivienne Westwood, Paris - Nadja Auermann backstage, fine art photography, 1995By Roxanne LowitLocated in Vienna, ATAll prints are limited edition. Available in multiple sizes. High-end framing on request. All prints are done and signed by the artist. The collector receives an additional certificate of authenticity from the gallery. Roxanne Lowit's backstage photography of the 80s and 90s is iconic and helped shape the cultural world of the late 20th century. This Portrait was taken at the Vivienne Westwood fall-fashion show in Paris in 1995. The Collection was titled 'Vive la Cocotte' and focused on undergarments to create exaggerated silhouettes. In typical Westwood style, the show was a contrast to the classic 90s aesthetic, which is perfectly captured in this Portrait of the Model Nadja Auermann. She is wearing a Corset top richly adorned with ruffles, bows, and flower print. Her black leather gloves contrast the light tulle skirt and stola. She looks directly at the camera with pursed lips, even further exaggerating her porcelain doll makeup. The classic Vivienne Westwood pearl choker...Category
1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography
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- Brad Pitt - b&w portrait of the actor on a motorcycle, fine art photography 2005By Timothy WhiteLocated in Vienna, ATAll prints are limited edition. Available in multiple sizes. High-end framing on request. All prints are done and signed by the artist. The collector receives an additional certificate of authenticity from the gallery. Brad Pitt is one of the most successful and well-known actors of our time. Timothy white portrayed him as the cool bad boy most of his roles make him out as, leaning over the handlebars of the vintage-looking motorcycle he is sitting on. He is wearing a black jeans jacket over a white hoodie and sunglasses pushed back on his head. He has his side turned towards the camera, looking ahead, seemingly not noticing the photographer next to him. Timothy White is a leading figure in contemporary photography. For over twenty years, White has been one of the most productive and sought after celebrity portrait photographers in the field. His archive is one of the most extensive in the world and includes Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Billy Joel, Julia Roberts, Keith Richards, Ray Charles, James Brown, Queen Latifah...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Black and White Photography
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- Nadja in Galliano, Paris - portrait in tulle skirt, fine art photography 1994-95By Roxanne LowitLocated in Vienna, ATAll prints are limited edition. Available in multiple sizes. High-end framing on request. All prints are done and signed by the artist. The collector receives an additional certificate of authenticity from the gallery. Roxanne Lowit is well known for her backstage photography, which shaped pop culture of the 1980s and 90s. This Photograph was taken at the John Galliano Spring 1995...Category
1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment