Artist: Helmut Newton
Title: "Tomb of Talma, Paris" Photography by Helmut Newton
Medium: Silver Gelatin Print
Year created: 1977
Height (inches): 20
Width (inches): 24
This piece is unframed.
Description of piece:
This print is part of Helmut Newton's “Private Property Collection.” The location was the "Pere Lachaise, Tomb of Talma II Paris.” This fine art photograph was shot in the famous Parisian graveyard in 1977 for Yves St Laurent. It is the second in the pictorial captured at the "Tomb of Talma". This is a rare pre-1985 vintage print produced in small numbers from a series of transparencies that Newton considered his most provocative and important work through 1985. Always unsigned, they were sent out to major publications to simulate interest in a photographer’s work. Most were destroyed or written over, it is very rare to find them in immaculate condition. The print comes with a Certificate of Authenticity detailing the ownership rights which are supported by an original agreement with Helmut Newton, co-signed by his Paris agent, in 1984, and supported by a further Settlement agreement with The Helmut Newton Estate in 2012. It has been stored in conservation condition and is an excellent examples of vintage Helmut Newton photography.
Artist bio:
Helmut Newton (1920-2004) was one of the world’s most celebrated photographers, whose uniquely edgy imagery is coveted worldwide by collectors and aficionados of photographic art, with auction values increasing steadily. Newton created a working space for his models that was part decadent and part unorthodox — a safe microcosm in which fantasies became reality. Perhaps most famously of all, Newton engendered an environment in which his female models claimed the space around them with unapologetic poise and commanding sensuality. His almost cinematic compositions provided a hyper-real backdrop for the provocative images of sculptural, larger-than-life women, and enhanced the themes of voyeurism and fetishism that run throughout his work. Amazingly, despite the fact that Newton was known for his erotically charged photography, it was not until he was 59 years old that he shot his first nudes. “It was not until 1980 that I photographed what I consider to be my first nude. In quick succession I executed the Big Nudes, the Naked and Dressed, and in Los Angeles, the Domestic Nudes series. The fact that the models in these photographs were the same girls I used in my fashion work gave them a certain elegance and coolness that I was looking for in my work.” - Helmut Newton - on models. "American Photo", January/February 2000.