RICHARD AVEDON (1923–2004)
Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky, Poets, New York City, December 30th, 1963

Estimate: € 20.000–25.000

Gelatin silver print, printed in 1980, framed 59,5 x 49,8 cm

Signed by Avedon, Ginsberg and Orlovsky, dated and editioned: signed and numbered by Richard Avedon, additionally signed, dated '1981', annotated 'Halloween NYC' by Allen Ginsberg and signed by Peter Orlovsky, all in ink with title, dated and copyright stamps on the reverse, edition no. AP 5/5 from an edition of 50 + 5 APs

PROVENANCE Purchased from Phillips de Pury, previously owned by Allen Ginsberg

LITERATURE Avedon, Autobiography, pl. 139 Random House, Richard Avedon: Evidence 1944-1994, p. 147.

Allen Ginsberg, one of the leading writers of the Beatnik Generation, gained much attention in 1957 when his poem Howl was published. It became the center of an obscenity trial and opened a wild discussion about homosexuality, which was still a taboo topic and had been largely absent from mainstream literature. Richard Avedon was drawn to the rebellious spirit of Ginsberg and invited the writer and his longtime partner, Peter Orlovsky, for a portrait at his studio. The couple is gazing calm into the camera, Ginsberg embracing Orlovsky. With his egalitarian eye Avedon captured the tender familiarity between the couple. It does not surprise that the image became an icon of the gay rights movement in the 1960s and enjoyed wide circulation in the community. Ginsberg would later refer to it as having »wide use as a sort of pinup«. First featured on the cover of the liberal publication Evergreen Review in 1970, it was later used as the frontispiece of Ginsberg’s Straight Hearts Delight, an anthology of letters and poems between the two men. Avedon created an image whose relevance still remains undiminished. The present print originally belonged to Allen Ginsberg and is signed by the photographer and both depicted writers.

Start price: €12.000