Sale!!! Mega RARE! Unique!!!
Philippe HALSMAN - Salvador Dali, Atomicus, 1948,
Old Authentic Original Drawing Offset print
Beautiful Famous photo!
Print size: 21.8 cm x 17 cm
This is a print that the printer had archived as a reference model and laminated on a support in order to be able to preserve it over time.
A wonderful testimony to traditional art printing which has totally disappeared these days.
Remarkable print, bright and contrasting, with beautiful tones of a very dense.
Its rendering as well as its definition with sharp details and its shine, are absolutely magnificent.
Print made in 1995 by a former art printer - Archival model Imprimeur duotone print enhanced with gloss varnish
This unpublished print was found in the depths of an assembly workshop in the archive lockers of a former art printing works, preciously kept flat and protected from light in an envelope. Although it is old with its 28 years of age, it has remained in a good state of conservation. Presence of traces of dirt and marks on the back due to manipulations by the printer. On the other hand, the front is intact, in perfect condition and of a remarkable shine.
This print was kept by the printer in order to serve as a reference for its setting and coloring on the machine during reprints.
If there are mythical moments in the work of Halsman, this is one of them, the man with the most famous mustaches in history, Salvador Dali participated in 1948, in the photographer's studio in a setting in a scene orchestrated by the two, in which the painter in front of his easel, jumps, or the cats and a chair fly, a gush of water, like a torrent, crossing the frame of the image. Together they create a tableau vivant, inspired by the canvas of the Catalan master, “Leda atómica”, which he made of his companion.
In order to achieve this image, Halsman takes twenty-six shots, with the help of four people, three to throw the cats, one for the water, while his wife holds the chair at arm's length, while the objects are suspended from the invisible end of the thread.
It is for Dali, his atomic period, fascinated by the idea that matter is composed of atoms in suspension, he represents his wife Gala on her throne floating above the ground, evoking the lightness and the perpetual movement which constitute all thing.
From 1941, Halsman met Salvador Dali in New York, the two had everything to get along, they had both lived in Paris and fled the occupier, they shared a cult of humor and loved psychoanalysis. Their collaboration lasted 37 years, Dali even going so far as to redraw on the photographer's prints. With their weakness for delusional ideas, during more than 40 sessions, Dali's communication desires, his calculated madness, and Halsman's technical know-how are mixed.
Philippe Halsman, self-taught photographer, likes humor, but also experiments with many creative photographic processes with images loaded with humanity. Far from being content with being just a portrait painter of celebrities, he never stops experimenting and pushing the limits of his profession as a photographer. Original, direct, with a requirement and care in detail, he expresses in his photos humor, vivacity, life and naturalness.
He is a real chameleon, an exalted artist, with explosive creativity with a talent that transcends the photographic tool to make it the starting point of an artistic production, he is a creator of dialogue, between the arts, between souls, between genders.
He likes to say that his portraits are psychological and favors short exposure sessions in an intimate setting to better understand the personality of his subject and highlight it, he invents short scenarios composed of a series of images. narratives on the model of a film or a painting, and sometimes by mixing the two.
“For my serious work, I strive to achieve the very essence of things and goals that may be impossible to achieve. On the other hand, I am very attracted to all forms of humor, and this childish aspect of my character leads me to all kinds of frivolous behavior. »Philip Halsman
Charm and inventiveness, a deep sense of humor and an introspective look, a photo shoot for Halsman is an extremely artificial situation, very few people are able to take control of themselves in an instant and behave in front of the camera as if he didn't exist.
He has a knack for capturing the personality in his subjects, often revealing their hidden depths. For Halsman from the beginning, photographing meant portraying people and thus accepting a new challenge each time, that of learning to capture true intimacy in the discreet movements of a gesture or an expression, giving a human image. , realistic and sometimes surreal.
This is why he helps them and opens up to them, the most important thing is to install a climate of trust, to speak, to establish a bond with his subjects rather than to take care of his camera or still light.
Famous for his portraits of personalities and his fashion photos, with immense originality, his portraits exude an atmosphere of spontaneity despite carefully crafted poses, using a twin-lens camera of his own design.
Few photographers have understood the surreal and strange potential of photography, as well as the use of flash, he is the precursor of a new photographic vision. His work is protean, rich and multiple, in each of his photographs he reveals two major traits, seriousness and fun, like an inseparable and indispensable couple. Far from being just a celebrity photographer, he never stopped experimenting and pushing the limits of his medium all his life.
“This fascination for the human face has never left me, every face I see seems to hide and sometimes surreptitiously reveal the mystery of another human being, capturing this enigma has become a passion and the goal of my life. »Philip Halsman
“I have never been the apprentice of another photographer. For me, photography was a field to which I thought I could bring something new. I learned everything I know empirically and by experimenting a lot. I think this experimentation has been the element that has played the biggest role in my career, trying new approaches and techniques, making mistakes, the constant search for the best and most unusual way to make a photograph that expresses an idea. »Philip Halsman
“Photography is the newest form of art. All attempts to expand its borders are important and should be encouraged. »Philip Halsman
Philippe Halsman (1906-1979) American photographer of Latvian origin, born in Riga. He studied electrical engineering. Halsman began his career as a photographer in Paris in the 1930s quickly becoming known as the most promising photographer of his generation. He opened a portrait studio in Montparnasse in 1934 where he photographed Gide, Chagall, Malraux, Le Corbusier and many other artists and intellectuals. As soon as the German invasion in 1940, he fled France, obtained a visa for the United States thanks to Albert Einstein and emigrated to the United States with his wife, Yvonne, and his daughters. He was noticed very quickly and began working for LIFE Magazine very early, photographing stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Albert Einstein, Alfred Hitchcock, John F. Kennedy, Andy Warhol.
He made 101 covers for the famous magazine "Life", a record. He also started in 1941 a collaboration with Salvador Dali which lasted 37 years. In 1945, he was elected the first president of the America Society of Magazine Photographers. In 1949, his first book was published, entitled "The Frenchman", entirely devoted to Fernandel, the book quickly became a bestseller. He was invited to join Magnum in 1951 and was a contributor from 1956.
In the 1950s, Philippe Halsman began his famous series of "jumps" of personalities, first for the NBC image bank then for LIFE, photographing all horizons, stars, artists, politicians, in full bond, from President Richard Nixon to Marilyn Monroe, from Henry Ford to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, from Edward Steichen to Salvador Dali, from Brigitte Bardot to Jerry Lewis. This series led to one of his most famous books, the "Jump Book" published in 1959. These witty and energetic photographs became an important part of his work. Series that he continues until 1970 fixing in full flight the greatest of this world. There are those who hug their legs like Richard Nixon or who raise their skirts like Grace Kelly or still others who spread their arms like Brigitte Bardot or Marilyn, symbol of a free and exuberant sexuality.
His portrait of Dali with three cats, a canvas and water suspended in the air remains one of the painter's most famous photographs. He is one of the greatest portrait painters, three of his images are the subject of postage stamps. Halsman's contributions to portraiture are countless, and his photographs remain iconic and defining mid-20th century American popular culture.
"Fortunately, I don't know the rules of photography, because if I knew them, I wouldn't be creative. There are too many rules. »Philip Halsman
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thanks a lot to the following photographers
Edward Weston
Daido Moriyama
Araki
Josef Koudelka
Saul Leiter
Ray K Metzker
Paolo Roversi
Helmut Newton,
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Ernst Haas
Harry Gruyaert
Annie Leibovitz
Peter Lindbergh
Guy Bourdin
Richard Avedon
Herb Ritts,
Ellen Von Unwerth
Comme des Garçons
Rei Kawakubo
Irving Penn,
Bruce Weber,
Edward Steichen,
George Hoyningen-Huene,
Hiro,
Erwin Blumenfeld
Bruce Weber,
Alex Webb
Robert Frank
Issey Miyake
Robert Doisneau
Steve Hiett
Gueorgui Pinkhassov
Andy Warhol
Yayoi Kusama
Magnum photos
Harry Callahan
Andre Kertesz
Elliott Erwitt
Bruce Davidson
Guy Bourdin
Steven Meisel,