Helmut Newton is known by many as one the most dexterous photographers of the 20th century. His notorious black and white work pushed the boundaries for fashion and fine-art photography, as he was one of the pioneers to explore themes such as sexuality and femininity within fashion. The Newlands House Gallery was recently opened which is a space located in Petworth dedicated to contemporary art, photography and design.
The space’s inaugural exhibition titled HELMUT NEWTON 100, which debuted in March was temporarily closed as a result of the current health crisis, but in response the gallery has introduced “Inside Helmut Newton 100.”
Curated by the gallery’s artistic director, auctioneer, art dealer and DJ Simon De Pury, the digital exhibition features a virtual tour of the exhibition which can be viewed via instagram and facebook as he takes the audience through the collection of iconic portraits, landscapes and fashion images, as well as glimpses of some never before seen artwork from the photographer. The virtual initiative will also feature a section titled “friends of Helmut” which will engage some of the photographer’s friends such as Mary McCartney & Juergen Teller in discussion . Keep up with gallery’s digital endeavours by following Newlands.House.Gallery.
Jenny Capitain, Pension Dorian, Berlin,
1977’ by Helmut NewtonNeewlands House Gallery by Elizabeth Zeschin
Retro Verseau, Vogue France, 1979 by Helmut Newton
To welcome 2016, Taschen books are launching a sale that will run from the 28th to the 31st of January. Taschen’s South London store – situated in Duke of York Square – will offer discounts of between 50-75% on displayed and slightly damaged titles, which will also be extended to their website www.taschen.com.
Originally known as Taschen Comics, the publishing house was established in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen to publish his extensive comic book collection. It has since become a force in making lesser-known art available to mainstream bookstores and in bringing subversive art into broader public view. Taschen has always embraced potentially controversial material alongside books that focus on subjects like art photography, comics, painting, fashion, film and architecture. Their reputation of producing more daring titles on fetishistic imagery, queer art, historical erotica and pornography has set them apart from traditional competitors, making Taschen the first stop for lovers of print, art, anthropology… and aphrodisia.
In its 35-year history, Taschen has garnered a global following and made headlines several times. It has produced the world’s most popular art book series, the introductory Basic Art Series, and has broken records with Helmut Newton’s SUMO – the most expensive book published in the 20th Century. Last year, Taschen introduced Art and Collectors Editions with models Gisele Bündchen and Naomi Campbell, photographer Bettina Rheims and music icon David Bowie. Join Taschen on the 28th of January as they celebrate many new, bold ventures for 2016, and indulge your artistic, or erotic, needs.
Among an array of exceptional and disparate images for sale at the upcoming Philip de Pury & Company Photographic Auction, a considerable number emanate from the milieu of fashion photography.
Highlights include Sie Kommen, one half of a diptych taken by the late and provocative Helmut Newton which depicts four naked models in high heels as an erotic metaphor for the changing status of women in the Eighties.
In addition, the print A family One Evening in a Nudist Camp by Diane Arbus utilises her intuitive sense of otherness not only to expose peculiarity in the mundane, but also to reveal the beauty and integrity of her subjects.
The sale will also showcase a myriad of eclectic and larger scale work from contemporary Twentieth Century photographers such as Vera Lutter, Thomas Ruff and Dan Holdsworth, which are collated with epoch-making images created by classic artists including Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Avendon, Horst P. Horst and Irvin Penn.
Phillips de Pury & Company May Photographic auction begins on 17 May at 4pm. phillipsdepury.com
Pierre Thoretton’s film L’Amour Fou is a love letter to memory, art and life reflected through the 50 year relationship between Yves Saint-Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé. Filmed a year after Yves Saint-Laurent’s death in 2008, Thoretton followed Bergé during the breaking up of their art collection. Works by Matisse, Goya, Mondrian, all sold at Christies. The dismantling of their collection is the point of departure for an exploration of their relationship and their shared aesthetic world. While Saint-Laurent’s absence dominates the film, Thoretton’s unrivalled access to his archive means his image is renewed through unseen personal photographs by friends such as William Klein and Helmut Newton. L’Amour Fou is also a farewell letter from Bergé to the love of his life and a melancholic ode to a Twentieth Century icon.
L’Amour Fou is at the ICA until 17 November and out on DVD on 21 November.
The Helmut Newton Foundation is one of those gems in the West of Berlin that’s well worth the journey from the more hip Bezirke of Kreuzberg or Friedrichshain. This month, alongside the permanent exhibition offering a glimpse into Helmut Newton the man, a new exhibition opens celebrating his Polaroids. Using them as an initial point of reference for his fashion shoots, he was able to test lighting and composition.
But more than that, the idea of Polaroids excited Newton: he published Pola Woman, a book exclusively made up of his Polaroids, in 1992. Shooting down accusations that the images in the book didn’t stand up to his usual standard he said: “but that was exactly what was exciting – the spontaneity, the speed”. Indeed in some ways this attitude prefigures the speed of photography – particularly street style photography – today.
The romance of a Polaroid picture is most definitely back in vogue again.
See the 300 works on display until 20th November 2011 Helmut Newton Foundation, Jebensstraße 2, 10623 Berlin
world’s coolest celebrities and models. So what happened when the Japanese photographer asked some of them to pose for a book of nudes? Playful, slick and downright hot, Naked is a girl’s own take on Helmut Newton’s glamazons.
Twin asked Sarai to tell us a bit about the project:
How did the book come about?
One very famous Japanese editor, Masa Sugatsuke approached me to make an all-nude book in June 2009. That’s how the project started.
A lot of the women in the book are models – how did shooting Naked feel different to a normal fashion shoot?
Shooting subjects naked is very different from a normal fashion shoot. There’s no clothes anyway. I shoot with a very minimal team when I shoot for Naked. I focused on our privacy and intimacy for this project.
How did being a female photographer affect the kind of nude images you ended up with?
Just adding one more spice for my style and name, that’s all.
A lot of the photos are in black and white and project a strong and tough take on femininity, was that on purpose?
It is on purpose and it’s my style.
How did you go about approaching people like Alice Dellal and Twin’s own Celestine Cooney?
I have shot with Alice Dellal before and we knew each other. Same with Celestine Cooney. We are friends and so it’s a very comfortable situation.
What’s been most people’s reaction to the book?
People just love it. And so many people want to take off their clothes for me now. It’s brilliant!
Is there going to be a follow-up to Naked?
Yes, I have already started shooting for Naked II. I have photographed 10 people including Janice Dickinson.
Mari Sarai’s Naked goes on show at the Blackall Studios, EC2A 4QS from September 14 – 20 and at Doors Showcase, EC2A 3DU September 21 – October 13.
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