Yousuf Karsh - Photographs New York Monday, April 4, 2016 | Phillips

Photographs

New York Auction 4 April 2016 

  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist
    Peter Fetterman Gallery, Santa Monica

  • Literature

    Deutschen Historischen Museums, Yousuf Karsh Helden aus Licht und Schatten, pl. 55
    Little, Brown and Company, Karsh: A Sixty-Year Retrospective, p. 180
    Travis, Yousuf Karsh: Regarding Heroes,back cover, p. 97

  • Catalogue Essay

    In Hollywood, just three years after her major film debut opposite Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday where her portrayal of Princess Ann won her the Academy Award for Best Actress, Audrey Hepburn sat for her portrait with Yousuf Karsh. Hepburn who was raised in Belgium and England bonded with the photographer over their experiences from the Second World War. Karsh’s renowned and perfected portraiture style emanates in this gentle yet striking image. The strong tonal range stands as an imprint of his mastery of lighting. Known for transforming a “human face into legend” as stated in his New York Times obituary he embraces Hepburn’s beauty as she gracefully glances down. The impact of the image resonated and as Karsh recalled “Years later, in the Kremlin, Chairman Brezhnev agreed to sit for me only if I made him as beautiful as Audrey Hepburn.” This image has only been offered twice before at auction.

233

Yousuf Karsh

Audrey Hepburn

1956
Gelatin silver print, printed later.
19 3/8 x 15 1/2 in. (49.2 x 39.4 cm)
Signed in ink on the mount; titled and dated in an unidentified hand in pencil on the reverse of the mount.

Estimate
$20,000 - 30,000 

Sold for $27,500

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Vanessa Hallett
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Sarah Krueger
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Photographs

New York Auction 4 April 2016