Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, U.S. | May 15, 1923
Died | October 1, 2004 San Antonio, Texas, U.S. | (aged 81)
Alma mater | The New School for Social Research |
Spouses | |
Children | 1 |
Relatives | Michael Avedon (grandson) |
Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Elle specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and dance.[1] An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century".[2]
Early life and education
Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish family. His father, Jacob Israel Avedon, was a Russian-born immigrant who advanced from menial work to starting his own successful retail dress business on
The photographer's first muse was his younger sister, Louise. During her teen years, she struggled through psychiatric treatment, eventually becoming increasingly withdrawn from reality and diagnosed with schizophrenia.[5] These early influences of fashion and family would shape Avedon's life and career, often expressed in his desire to capture tragic beauty in photos.[citation needed]
Avedon attended
Photography career
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In 1944, Avedon began working as an advertising photographer for a department store, but was quickly endorsed by Alexey Brodovitch, who was art director for the world-renowned American fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar. Lillian Bassman also promoted Avedon's career at Harper's. In 1945, his photographs began appearing in Junior Bazaar and, a year later, in Harper's Bazaar.[2]
In 1946, Avedon had set up his own studio and began providing images for magazines including
When Diana Vreeland left Harper's Bazaar for Vogue in 1962, Avedon joined her as a staff photographer.[9] He proceeded to become the lead photographer at Vogue and photographed most of the covers from 1973 until Anna Wintour became editor in chief in late 1988.[citation needed]
Among his fashion advertisement series are the recurring assignments for Gianni Versace, beginning with the spring/summer campaign 1980. He also photographed the Calvin Klein Jeans campaign featuring a fifteen-year-old Brooke Shields, as well as directing her in the accompanying television commercials. Avedon first worked with Shields in 1974 for a Colgate toothpaste ad. He shot her for Versace, 12 American Vogue covers and Revlon's Most Unforgettable Women campaign.[citation needed]
In the February 9, 1981, issue of Newsweek, Avedon said that "Brooke is a lightning rod. She focuses the inarticulate rage people feel about the decline in contemporary morality and destruction of innocence in the world." On working with Avedon, Shields told Interview magazine in May 1992, "When Dick walks into the room, a lot of people are intimidated. But when he works, he's so acutely creative, so sensitive. And he doesn't like it if anyone else is around or speaking. There is a mutual vulnerability, and a moment of fusion when he clicks the shutter. You either get it or you don't".
In addition to his continuing fashion work, by the 1960s Avedon was making studio portraits of civil rights workers, politicians, and cultural dissidents of various stripes in an America fissured by discord and violence.
A personal book called Nothing Personal with a text by his high school classmate James Baldwin, appeared in 1964.[10] It includes photographs documenting the civil rights movement, cultural figures and an extended collection of pictures of people in a mental asylum; together with Baldwin's searing text, it makes a striking commentary on America in 1964.
During this period, Avedon also created two well known sets of portraits of
Avedon was always interested in how portraiture captures the personality and soul of its subject. As his reputation as a photographer became more well known, he photographed many public figures in his studio with a large-format 8×10
By eliminating the use of soft lights and props, Avedon was able to focus on the inner worlds of his subjects evoking emotions and reactions.[5] He would at times evoke reactions from his portrait subjects by guiding them into uncomfortable areas of discussion or asking them psychologically probing questions. Through these means he would produce images revealing aspects of his subject's character and personality that were not typically captured by others.[13]
Avedon's mural groupings featured emblematic figures: Andy Warhol with the players and stars of
In 1982, Avedon produced a playfully inventive series of advertisements for fashion label
Avedon became the first staff photographer for The New Yorker in 1992,[16] where his post-apocalyptic, wild fashion fable “In Memory of the Late Mr. and Mrs. Comfort,” featuring model Nadja Auermann and a skeleton, was published in 1995. Other pictures for the magazine, ranging from the first publication, in 1994, of previously unpublished photos of Marilyn Monroe to a resonant rendering of Christopher Reeve in his wheelchair and nude photographs of Charlize Theron in 2004, were topics of wide discussion.[2]
In the American West
Serious heart inflammations hindered Avedon's health in 1974.
Wilder envisioned the project to portray Avedon's take on the American West. It became a turning point in Avedon's career when he focused on everyday working class subjects such as miners soiled in their work clothes, housewives, farmers and drifters on larger-than-life prints, instead of the more traditional options of focusing upon public figures or the openness and grandeur of the West.[18] The project lasted five years concluding with an exhibition and a catalogue. It allowed Avedon and his crew to photograph 762 people and expose approximately 17,000 sheets of 8×10 Kodak Tri-X Pan film.[18][19] The collection identified a story within his subjects of their innermost self, a connection Avedon admits would not have happened if his new sense of mortality through severe heart conditions and aging hadn't occurred.[13] Avedon visited and traveled through state fair rodeos, carnivals, coal mines, oil fields, slaughter houses and prisons to find subjects.[18]
In 1994, Avedon revisited his subjects who would later speak about In the American West aftermath and its direct effects. Billy Mudd, a trucker, spent long periods of time on his own away from his family. He was a depressed, disconnected and lonely man before Avedon offered him the chance to be photographed. When he saw his portrait for the first time, Mudd saw that Avedon revealed something about him that allowed him to recognize the need for change in his life. The portrait transformed Mudd, and led him to quit his job and return to his family.[citation needed]
Helen Whitney's 1996 American Masters documentary episode, Avedon: Darkness and Light, depicts an aging Avedon identifying In the American West as his best body of work.[13]
During the production period Avedon encountered problems with size availability for quality printing paper. While he experimented with
While In the American West is one of the Avedon's most notable works, it has often been criticized for falsifying the West through voyeuristic themes and for exploiting his subjects. Avedon's book In the American West was actually controversial when it was first released. Some people found it unconventional and unexpected for a book about the West, but it ended up becoming an iconic image that challenged traditional perceptions of the region. Critics question why a photographer from the East who traditionally focuses on models or public figures would go out West to capture the working class members who represent hardship and suffering. They argue that Avedon's intentions are to influence and evoke condescending emotions from the viewer such as pity.[19]
Exhibitions
Avedon had very numerous museum exhibitions around the world, exhibitions in which he was a part of and became known for. His first major retrospective was at the
The
Collections
Avedon's work is held in the following permanent collections:
- The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL[23]
- Museum of Modern Art, New York [2]
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York [2]
- Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.[2][6]
- Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Ft. Worth, Texas [2]
- Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris[citation needed]
- Leonard A. Lauder and Larry Gagosian, the Avedon Foundation gave 74 Avedon images to the Israel Museum in 2013.[24]
- Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Arizona[25]
Awards
- 1989: Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America[citation needed]
- 1989: Honorary graduate degree from the Royal College of Art[citation needed]
- 1991: Hasselblad Award - https://www.hasselbladfoundation.org/wp/richard-avedon-2/
- 1993: Honorary graduate degree from the Kenyon College[citation needed]
- 1993: International Center of Photography's Master of Photography Award[citation needed]
- 1994: Honorary graduate degree from the Parsons School of Design[citation needed]
- 1994: Prix Nadar in for his book Evidence (1994)[citation needed]
- 2001: Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences[26]
- 2003: Kitty Carlisle Hart Award, Arts & Business Council, New York[27]
- 2003: Royal Photographic Society 150th Anniversary Medal[citation needed]
- 2003: National Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement[citation needed]
- 2003: The Royal Photographic Society's Special 150th Anniversary Medal and Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS)[28]
- 2017:
Art market
In 2010, a record price of £719,000 was achieved at
Personal life
In 1944, Avedon married 19-year-old bank teller Dorcas Marie Nowell, who later became the model and actress Doe Avedon; they did not have children and divorced in 1949.[32] The couple summered at the gay village of Cherry Grove, Fire Island, and Avedon's bisexuality has been attested to by colleagues and family.[33] He was reportedly devastated when Nowell left him.
In 1951, he married Evelyn Franklin; she died on March 13, 2004.[34] Their marriage produced one son, John Avedon, who has written extensively about Tibet.[35][36][37][38] In 1970, Avedon purchased a former carriage house on the Upper East Side of Manhattan that would serve as both his studio and apartment.[39] In the late 1970s, he purchased a four-bedroom house on a 7.5-acre (3.0 ha) estate in Montauk, New York, between the Atlantic Ocean and a nature preserve; he sold it for almost $9 million in 2000.[38][40]
According to Norma Stevens, Avedon's longtime studio director, Avedon confided in her about his homosexual relationships, including a decade-long affair with director Mike Nichols.[41][42][unreliable source?]
Death
On October 1, 2004, Avedon died in a
Legacy
The Richard Avedon Foundation is a private operating foundation, structured by Avedon during his lifetime. It began its work shortly after his death in 2004. Based in New York, the foundation is the repository for Avedon's photographs, negatives, publications, papers, and archival materials.
In popular culture
Hollywood presented a fictional account of Avedon's early career in the 1957 musical Funny Face, starring Fred Astaire as the fashion photographer "Dick Avery." Avedon supplied some of the still photographs used in the production, including its most noted single image: an intentionally overexposed close-up of Audrey Hepburn's face in which only her noted features – her eyes, her eyebrows, and her mouth – are visible.
Hepburn was Avedon's muse in the 1950s and 1960s, and he went so far as to say: "I am, and forever will be, devastated by the gift of Audrey Hepburn before my camera. I cannot lift her to greater heights. She is already there. I can only record. I cannot interpret her. There is no going further than who she is. She has achieved in herself her ultimate portrait."[45]
The 2005 film Capote contains a recreation of Avedon photographing convicted murderers Perry Edward Smith and Richard Hickock in April 1960. Avedon is portrayed by the film's cinematographer, Adam Kimmel.
The 2015 video game Life is Strange references Avedon several times, with side character Victoria Chase calling him "one of my heroes" in response to being compared to him if the player chooses to be kind to her.
Noted photographs
- Marella Agnelli, Italian socialite, 1953
- Carmen Mayrink Veiga , Brazilian socialite (Vogue's 10 best dressed), 1970
- Dovima with Elephants, 1955
- Marilyn Monroe, actress, 1957
- Homage to Munkacsi, Carmen, coat by Cardin, Paris, 1957
- Brigitte Bardot, actress, 1959
- Jacqueline de Ribes, 1961
- John F Kennedy, 1960
- Christina Bellin, model, 1962
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor), athlete 1963
- Dwight David Eisenhower, President of the United States, 1964
- The Beatles, 1967
- The Dave Dellinger, 1969[46]
- Andy Warhol and Members of the Factory, New York, 1969
- Sly Stone (cover of the album Fresh), 1973
- Asha Puthli, (She Loves to Hear the Music Album back cover), 1974
- Muddy Waters, cover of Hard Again, 1977
- Ronald Fischer, beekeeper, 1981
- Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent, 1981[47]
- Pile of beautiful people, Versace campaign, 1982
- Whitney Houston (cover of Whitney), 1987
- Hikaru Utada (cover of Addicted to You),1999
- Tom Ford, 2002
Books
- Observations. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1959. Photographs by Avedon, commentary by Truman Capote. Portraits of noted people.
- Nothing Personal. New York: James Baldwin.
- Alice in Wonderland: The Forming of a Company and the Making of a Play. Merlin: 1973. By Avedon and ISBN 978-0-88306-500-6.
- Portraits. Noonday: 1976. Introduction by ISBN 978-0-374-51412-9.
- Portraits 1947–1977. ISBN 978-0-374-23200-9.
- In the American West.
- In the American West, Photographs by Richard Avedon. New York: Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX.
- In the American West, 1979–1984. New York: Abrams, 1985. ISBN 978-0-8109-2301-0.
- In the American West: 20th Anniversary Edition. New York: Abrams, 2005. ISBN 978-0-8109-5928-6.
- In the American West, Photographs by Richard Avedon. New York:
- An Autobiography. 1993. Photographs arranged to tell Avedon's life story.
- Evidence. 1994. Essays and text about Avedon with photographs by Avedon.
- The Sixties. 1999. By Avedon and Doon Arbus. Photographs of noted people.
- Made in France, 2001. A retrospective of Avedon's fashion portraiture from the 1950s.
- Richard Avedon Portraits' 2002. Celebrities and subjects from In The American West. Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Woman in the Mirror. 2005. With an essay by Anne Hollander.
- Performance. 2008. With an essay by John Lahr.
- Portraits of Power. 2008. Edited by Paul Roth. With an essay by Renata Adler. Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
See also
References
- )
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Richard Avedon, the Eye of Fashion, Dies at 81", Andy Grundberg, The New York Times, October 1, 2004.
- ^ a b Paula Chin (May 23, 1994), At 71, Assailed by Critics, the Prickly Photographer Says Frankly, 'I Don't Give a Damn How I'm Taken.' Archived 2016-04-28 at the Wayback Machine People.
- ^ "Richard Avedon biography". Biography Channel. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
- ^ a b Rourke, Mary. "Photographer Richard Avedon Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
- ^ a b Staff (October 2, 2004). "Richard Avedon". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved September 14, 2009. "He also edited the school magazine at DeWitt Clinton High, on which the black American writer James Baldwin was literary editor."
- ^ Scholastic Inc., Newsroom, AMERICA’S MOST CREATIVE TEENS NAMED AS NATIONAL 2016 SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARDS RECIPIENTS, http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/press-release/america-s-most-creative-teens-named-national-2016-scholastic-art-writing-awards-recipi
- ^ Richard Avedon MoMA.org. Accessed August 1, 2022.
- ^ William Ahearn (October 1, 2004), Richard Avedon, Portrait and Fashion Photographer, Dies at 81 Bloomberg.
- ^ New York Times.
- ^ "ACHOF Interview with designer and illustrator John Kehe". Album Cover Hall of Fame.com. 2020-07-28. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
- ISBN 978-1-59711-179-9. Archived from the originalon 2012-05-17. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- ^ a b c d Whitney, Helen. "Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light". American Masters. PBS.
- ^ Richard Avedon: Murals & Portraits, May 4 – July 6, 2012, Gagosian.com. Accessed August 1, 2022.
- ^ "Advertising; Phase 3 Of Wild Dior Antics". The New York Times. 11 July 1983.
- ^ Women's Wear Daily, October 2004.
- ^ Turner-Yamamoto, Judith (May 2006). "In Avedon's American West". World and I Journal.
- ^ a b c d Pénichon, Sylvie (2008). "The Making of the American West". The American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works. 3. 47: 175.
- ^ JSTOR 3193139.
- ^ "Once at MIA: Avedon sits in — Minneapolis Institute of Art – Minneapolis Institute of Art". Minneapolis Institute of Art.
- New York Times.
- Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.
- ^ "Richard Avedon," Art Institute of Chicago, https://www.artic.edu/collection?q=%22richard%20avedon%22
- New York Times.
- ^ Star, Ann Brown Arizona Daily (12 December 2018). "Avedon exhibit at Tucson's Center for Creative Photography puts relationships into focus". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter A" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-879903-07-4.
- ^ Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Award Archived 2012-12-01 at the Wayback Machine Accessed August 13, 2012.
- ^ "Ryszard Horowitz inducted to the International Photography Hall of Fame". KRK Film. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
- ^ "Richard Avedon". International Photography Hall of Fame. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
- ^ Colin Gleadell (November 22, 2010), "New record for Richard Avedon photography sales", The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Ronald Bergan (26 December 2011). "Doe Avedon obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
- ^ Gross, Michael Focus: The Secret, Sexy, Sometimes Sordid World Of Fashion Photographers, Atria Books, 2016, pp65, passim
- ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths AVEDON, EVELYN FRANKLIN". The New York Times. March 16, 2004.
- ^ The Buddha's Art of Healing: Tibetan Paintings Rediscovered, John Avedon, Rizzoli, 1998.
- ^ John Avedon, "Exploring the Mysteries of Tibetan Medicine", The New York Times Magazine, January 11, 1981.
- ^ Donald G. McNeil Jr. (November 26, 1984), "His Father's Photos Extol Beauty, but John Avedon's New Book on Tibet Doesn't Paint a Pretty Picture" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, People; accessed August 1, 2022.
- ^ New York Observer.
- New York Magazine.
- ^ Alex Williams (August 9, 1999). "Big Shack Attack". New York Magazine.
- ISBN 0812994434
- ^ Parul Sehgal (December 12, 2017). "Turning the Lens Around on Richard Avedon". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
- ^ Richard Avedon Gagosian Gallery, New York.
- New York Times.
- ^ Karney, Robyn. A Star Danced: The Life of Audrey Hepburn, London: Bloomsbury, 1993.
- ^ Richard Avedon. (Sept. 25, 1969). "The Chicago Seven: Lee Weiner, John Fronies, Abbie Hoffman, Rennie Davis, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, Dave Dellinger. Chicago" MOMA
- ^ Welsh, James Michael; Gene D. Phillips; Rodney Hill The Francis Ford Copolla Encyclopedia Scarecrow Press Lanham, Maryland 2010, p. 154.
External links
- Richard Avedon ca 1948.
- Richard Avedon – official site
- Richard Avedon at Biography.com
- Richard Avedon at the Museum of Modern Art
- Richard Avedon: Portrait Series of Jacob Israel Avedon from the Collection of The Jewish Museum (New York)