“Dovima with Elephants” (at left), arguably Avedon’s most iconic image, is among the photographs to be put on the block. The 2.25 meter by 1.5 meter print, of a supermodel posing angelically between elephants on a hot summer day at the Cirque d-hiver in Paris in 1955, hung over the entrance to Avedon’s studio in New York City for over 20 years. The image itself could fetch up to $700,000.
The Avedon collection, the largest of its kind, is being put up by the Avedon Foundation, which seeks to promote and maintain the legendary photographer’s legacy.
Avedon, who died in 2004 at the age of 81, made his mark in both the worlds of fashion photography and portraiture. His legacy includes celebrated campaigns for magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, iconic pictures of models like Twiggy and Marilyn Monroe, album covers, Presidential portraits, as well as coverage of the fall of the Berlin wall and the Civil Rights Movement.
“Richard Avedon is by any standards a towering figure in the story of photography,” said Philippe Garner, head of 20th-century decorative arts and photographs at Christie’s auction house. “His work has power, authority and intensity, very distinctive signature.”
So what sort of effect does Richard Avedon’s work have on you? And what would you pay to get your hands on a genuine Avedon print?