Product Description

For over 50 years, Richard Avedon (b. 1923) has captured the creative genius of our time with dazzling insight and incomparable style. Spanning the artist's entire career, from the late 1940s through his most recent work, Richard Avedon Portraits offers a superb selection of his photographic portraits.

With uncompromising directness, Avedon portrayed his subjects against a white background, with no extraneous details to distract from the essential specificity of face, gaze, dress, and gesture. This challenging innovation, coupled with the artist's intense interest in his subjects and mastery of his craft, resulted in mesmerizing portraits-among them Truman Capote, Willem de Kooning, Samuel Beckett, Francis Bacon, and Marilyn Monroe, as well as the uncelebrated Americans of his project, "In the American West"-that rival the greatest works in the portrait tradition.

Richard Avedon Portraits is published to accompany a major exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. With its innovative accordion-style design and superb reproductions, the book is a virtual stand-alone mini-exhibition in its own right.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #322568 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-17
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 64 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The subject of an upcoming retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Avedon long ago entered the canon of fashion photography and modern portraiture. His trademark images of people standing against white backdrops, at once unflinching and glamorous in their effect, have helped define our idea of celebrity itself (if Avedon shot them, they must be famous). This slipcased, accordion-fold collection of 50 black and white portraits from the past 50 years, produced for the exhibition and including an essay by curator Maria Morris Hambourg and Met research assistant Mia Fineman, as well as a brief word from the photographer himself, will do little to change Avedon's reputation. It offers, in essence, a greatest hits collection of well-known faces---Andy Warhol, William Burroughs, and that pale, hairless beekeeper covered in bugs. For those unfamiliar with Avedon's work, or for true completists, the classy package of tri-tone reproductions will prove enticing.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Richard Avedon is one of the most influential photographers of the second half of the 20th century. His portrait work comprises an authoritative record of our era. His many books have set a standard for photographic publishing. As a staff photographer for Harper's Bazaar and later for Vogue, Avedon redefined what a fashion photograph is. In 1992 he was named the first staff photographer in the history of The New Yorker.

Customer Reviews

AVEDON IS OVER-RATED?
I looked at this book that I just received today and I thought, "These are good fotos but.....but....there is something missing." What is "missing"? The background for one thing! I want to KNOW MORE about these people than Avedon gives us. These portraits are "better than nothng" but...but...who are these people? There are very few "clues" to help us answer that question. On the contrary, Diana Arbus DOES "tell" us who her people are"---both in words and in their surroundings or background environment which Ms. Arbus DOES include. I think Mr. Avedon should throw away his "white sheet" or whatever he uses and show the subject with their environmnet. I'm sure the subjects in this book do NOT carry around a white sheet to put behind themselves! So, why does Mr. Avedon feel he has to use the white sheet? I don't get it and I don't like it. But, the above being said, these ARE very good portraits even with their alledged "defects". Boland7214@aol.com

A Caution for some ... nude photographs
This book is absolutely exquisite. The photographs are stunning and insightful If you are not familiar with Avedon's male nudes--I wasn't--you should be aware that many of them are full frontal and not in any way prettified, pornographic, or erotic. I include this because none of the other reviews mentioned it. Had I been more familiar with the book's contents, perhaps I would not have left the book out on the kitchen counter for the wrong (adult) friend to unfold it before I did!! Yeah, I know, I should have known better . . . . Duh.

A work of art keepsake.
I bought this book for my photography friend for Christmas. She was blown away. From the moment you open the package, it is clear this book is worlds apart from your standard photography book. Every photo is frame-ready. I highly recommend for the picky photography enthusiast.