181
Irving Penn
Miles Davis, New York, July 1
- Estimate
- $25,000 - 35,000
$47,500
Lot Details
Selenium toned gelatin silver print.
1986
14 3/4 x 14 3/4 in. (37.5 x 37.5 cm)
Signed, titled, dated, annotated in ink, copyright credit reproduction limitation and credit stamps on the reverse of the mount.
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Catalogue Essay
In 1986 Irving Penn was hired by Warner Brothers Records to photograph Miles Davis for his new album Tutu. With art direction by Eiko Ishioka, the resulting album portraits—including the isolated hand, the frontal close-up and the present image—remain some of the most iconic photographs of the famed jazz musician and earned Ishioka the 1987 Grammy Award for Best Album Package. This print was one of the dozen assorted prints of the 3 images that Penn made for the music executives involved in the album's release and thus precedes the 1991 edition of 12.
Provenance
Irving Penn
American | B. 1917 D. 2009Irving Penn was one of the 20th century’s most significant photographers, known for his arresting images, technical mastery, and quiet intensity. Though he gained widespread acclaim as a leading Vogue photographer for over sixty years, Penn remained a private figure devoted to his craft. Trained under legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch in Philadelphia, he began his career assisting at Harper’s Bazaar before joining Vogue in 1943, where editor and artist Alexander Liberman recognized Penn’s distinctive eye and encouraged him to pursue photography. Penn’s incomparably elegant fashion studies reset the standard for the magazine world, and his portraits, still lifes, and nude studies broke new ground. His 1960 book Moments Preserved redefined the photographic monograph with its dynamic layout and high-quality reproductions. In 1964, Penn began printing in platinum and palladium, reviving this 19th-century process to serve his own distinct vision. An innovator in every sense, Penn’s approach to photography was endlessly adventurous. Few photographers of his generation experimented as widely with both conventional and historic print processes, and none achieved Penn’s level of excellence in all.
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