© Christie’s Images Limited 2010
Another date for your auction calendars people…
On the 30th of June Christie’s Paris will be selling a collection of over sixty photographs by Jeanloup Seiff which were acquired directly from the artist by the collector Gert Elfering.
The highlight of the collection, for us fashion folk, is undoubtedly the iconic nude photograph of Yves Saint Laurent, taken by the famed photographer, and used for the advertising campaign of the first YSL eau de toilette for men, Pour homme, 1971. The photograph caused quite a scandal at the time, and it was the first time in fashion history that a perfume maker was the model for his own advertising campaign.
Pierre Bergé commented in ‘Dutch’, Winter 1997:
“It was just provocation on the part of Yves Saint Laurent. The picture didn’t specifically target the gay population, even though it resonated strongly among them. In any case the photo was hardly published at the time. Just barely in the French press. It was only much later on that it became an almost mythical icon.”
all the bits and pieces:
JEANLOUP SIEFF (1933-2000)
Yves Saint Laurent, Paris, 1971
tirage argentique
28.4 x 28.3 cm. (11.1/4 x 11.1/4 in.)
Estimate: €10,000-15,000
Catalogues will soon be available to order from www.christies.com.
