The Life & Work of the Late Herb Ritts
Photography
Dimostra Debuts Digital Portfolios for Car Collectors
Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Wealth
Dimostra is a recently launched service for car collectors that brings classics into the digital age. The company's offerings include portfolio development, virtual showrooms, iconic photography, auction or show marketing, and asset documentation services to owners of the world's finest automobiles. The company is based on the concept that regardless of the size or value of a collection, true car connoisseurs should be willing to share their precious investments with fellow enthusiasts. "As rare collector cars become more valuable, their presence in public will continue to diminish," Dimostra's David Nawrocki tells us. "We hope to bridge this void in the collector car market."
By featuring and celebrating each car's beauty and history in a contemporary environment online with fellow enthusiasts, Dimostra also hopes to educate younger generations on the historical significance of the cars, "ultimately protecting their long term collectability and value." Don't have your own car collection? No problem – for $9.99 / month, you can purchase a VIP subscription to the portfolios on Dimostra's website, some of which belong to well-known collectors. A subscription gives you access to all the photographs, original documentation and a brief narrative about the history of each car, some of which are worth millions. You can check out a preview of some of our favorites in the gallery.
Michel Comte Exhibit Opens at Prague's Leica Gallery
Filed under: Art
Rare Tintype of Billy The Kid To Go Up For Sale
Filed under: Auctions
The image above depicts one of the Old West's most infamous bad guys. This rare tintype of Billy the Kid is believed to be the only survivor of four that were created when he posed for the picture in a Fort Sumner, New Mexico, gambling hall in late 1879 or early 1880. This shot often accompanies stories about Billy the Kid and is believed to be one of the only authenticated images of the young outlaw. It will be auctioned on June 25 at Brian Lebel's Old West Show and Auction at the Denver Merchandise Mart where it could bring between $300,000 and $400,000. The tintype passed through the family of one of Billy's rustler partners, Dan Dedrick and is sometimes called the Upham tintype after the Dedrick's grand-nephew, Frank Upham and his descendants.
Jerry Schatzberg's Timeless Beauties
Ducatis and Nudes Make for High-Octane Art
Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Art
Superbikes meet supermodels sans clothes in Ducati's new high-octane art project. The famed Italian motorcycle firm commissioned photographer Elizabeth Raab to create images of eye-popping nude female forms astride their meanest machines. Dubbed "Desmo" the collection presents 16 unique photographs in which "the artist has approached and juxtaposed the abstract qualities of the organic and mechanical forms, highlighting both the complexity in design and the emotion of iconic Ducati motorcycles", including the Desmosedici (above) and the Monster.
The sexy shots "explore the multiple relationships between the designed and the natural – the lines of the mechanical body reflecting the lines of the organic form it was designed after." Just in case you thought it was merely an excuse to ogle the world's finest flesh and metal, that is. Numbered, limited edition fine art prints are available to order exclusively from www.ducatiart.com in various sizes; the largest version of the one above will run you about $550. The project was produced under the auspices of the Ducati Official Art Collection, an artistic venture between Ducati and lifestyle art brand Cultwork.
Norman Rockwell Mural Returned To Vermont State Capital
Filed under: Art
A piece of Vermont history, a photographic mural by artist Norman Rockwell is back in the state capital. The large black-and-white photograph, shown above, "Maple Sugaring in Vermont," was commissioned by Rockwell's friend Col. Henry Fairfax Ayres, who lent it to the state for display. The the 5-by-7-foot mural was made in 1947 and shows men, including Rockwell himself, tending sap buckets hanging on maple trees outside as the sugar house belches smoke into the sky.
The mural hung in the lobby of the state Agency of Agriculture building in Montpelier for years but in 1987, the state lent it to the Norman Rockwell Museum of Vermont while the building underwent renovations. At the museum in Rutland, Vermont it become popular with visitors. Last year Vermont Agriculture Commissioner Roger Allbee (shown above), who was aware of the original loan, started to make inquiries. The museum was attached to the mural and had used it as the anchor of a collection. Eventually the grandson of Col. Ayres was contacted and he said it should go back to the state. While the issue of ownership may have been resolved it's likely that the mural will attract less eyes in its new home in a second-floor hallway of the Agency of Agriculture's office building, across the street from the Statehouse than at the Rockwell Museum.
Cartier-Bresson Photos On Display At LA Art Show
Filed under: Art
In addition to the focus on China that I previously mentioned when discussing the 16th Annual Los Angeles Art Show, running January 19-23 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the event will also feature special exhibit of works by master photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. The exhibit titled "Rarely/Unseen" is curated by Peter Fetterman, owner of Peter Fetterman Gallery. Fetterman, is a former colleague of Cartier-Bresson and his Santa Monica gallery has one of the largest inventories of Cartier-Bresson's photographs in the world. The exhibit at the art show will include more than 35 photographs that have never been seen before. A 2006 documentary based on Cartier-Bresson titled "The Impassioned Eye" will run in conjunction with the exhibit and additional works by Henri Cartier-Bresson can be seen at Peter Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica's Bergamont Station through January 8, 2011. Tickets for the LA Art Show are $20.
Cartier-Bresson began his career in photography in 1931 and is one of the early greats of photojournalism. Trained as an artist, Cartier-Bresson helped to develop the style of the street photographer. He worked for a variety of journals including Life Magazine capturing iconic images of key events including the coronation of King George VI and the rose of Mao and the People's Republic of China. One of the fascinating things about Cartier-Bresson is that by 1975 he decided he was done with photography and spent the remainder of his life (he died in 2004) focused on painting and drawing.
[via Art Daily]
Miranda Kerr, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley & More Go Nude at Necker Island
Filed under: Books
The world's sexiest new supermodels pose sans clothes at Richard Branson's Necker Island paradise in a massive new monograph from famed photographer Russell James. V2 from uber-luxe publisher teNeues showcases the girls James believes will be the superstars of the new era, including Miranda Kerr, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Candice Swanepoel and Brooklyn Decker (on the cover, above). The Australian lensman, a connoisseur of the female form, has shot numerous ad campaigns for Victoria's Secret as well as sizzling spreads for Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue. In V2 he presents the gifted goddesses in the natural splendor of Necker Island, Vrigin mogul Richard Branson's luxe tropical retreat. We're sure Branson was only too happy to play host to the bevy of naked beauties. See the gallery for an SFW preview (you'll have to buy the book to get the full treatment).
Ltd. Edition 1946 Macallan Albert Watson Edition to Sell for $16,000
Missed out on the the 64-year-old Macallan in Lalique Cire Perdue recently auctioned off at Sotheby's for a record breaking $460,000 (the world's most expensive bottle of whisky)? You can still get your hands on some equally precious elixir via an ultra-exclusive limited edition bottling from the famed Speyside distillery as part of its upcoming Albert Watson collaboration. Priced at $16,000 apiece, the offering stems from the Macallan's Masters of Photography series. Only 36 bottles of the rare single malt Scotch distilled in 1946 will be available early next year along with a one-of-a-kind platinum print from Watson's project.
If that's still out of your reach, you might still be able to lay claim to the regular but also quite special Albert Watson Masters of Photography bottling, above – a new, limited-edition 20 year old single malt priced at $1,000 apiece, of which only 1,000 bottles are being produced. Watson's images depict a young couple as they travel the path the wood used in the distillery's whisky casks takes as it moves from the Spanish forest to its "spiritual home on Speyside".
[via JustLuxe]
An Inside Look at Paris' Famed Flea Markets
Filed under: Decor, Art, Books
Great Gardens of the Hudson River Valley
Filed under: Estates, Green, Books, Architecture & Design
Winter may be fast approaching but verdant greenery abounds in Gardens of the Hudson Valley, a new photographic portrait of the region's lush private landscapes. The luxurious volume chronicles 25 gardens chosen to give "a sense of place and convey the romance of the landscape" abutting the majestic Hudson River in New York state. Photographers Steve Gross and Susan Daley selected gardens from Yonkers up the river to the town of Hudson, including famous formal estate gardens like Kykuit, Boscobel, the Vanderbilt Mansion, and Olana, along with smaller, more naturalistic plots that combine sweeping views and lush plantings. Each of the gardens tells a story about the people who made them, and collectively they evoke "the grace and grandeur of the Hudson River landscape" underscoring the central role the Hudson Valley played in the birth of an American garden tradition.
Lagerfeld Launches 2011 Pirelli Calendar with Julianne Moore
Actress Juliane Moore and several naked supermodels, including serial nudist Daria Werbowy, Isabeli Fontana, Lara Stone, Erin Wasson, Natasha Poly and more appear in the just-unveiled 2011 Pirelli calendar photographed by Karl Lagerfeld. For the first time, thanks to Lagerfeld's influence and the Greek and Roman Mythology-theme of the shoot, which took place at Lagerfeld's studio in Paris, male models appear in the famed flesh fantasia as well this year. "It's my favourite religion: a god for everything," Lagerfeld tells Vogue UK regarding the calendar's theme. "I am a polytheist. I prefer mythology without hell, no sin – an obstacle to happiness – without forgiveness. I love goddesses because they were the first liberated women, who were entitled to everything. The goddesses and the muses are feminists!"
Avedon's Dovima Goes To Dior
That massive image of model Dovima posing with an elephant that sold at the Richard Avedon auction at Christie's Paris last weekend found a fitting home. Avedon's 1955 photo "Dovima With Elephants" was bought by the Christian Dior fashion house. Dovima is wearing a Dior evening gown in the fashionable photo. The seven-foot tall print was made for the tour of Avedon's 1978 Metropolitan Museum of Art fashion retrospective. After the tour it stood near the entrance to Avedon's New York studio for 25 years. Since 2005, it has been installed inside the entrance to the offices of The Richard Avedon Foundation. The print sold for 841,000 euros, approximately $1.1 million, in the sale which made a total of $7.5 million.
http://www.elleuk.com/news/fashion-news/dovima-finds-a-new-home-at-dior/(gid)/698788
Avedon Prints Sell For $7.5 Million
A sale of prints by the late photographer Richard Avedon sold strongly at auction this week at Christie's Paris. The sale brought in 5.5 million euros (approximately $7.5 million). The top seller at the sale was a huge print of a photograph taken in 1955 of the model Dovima posing with elephants at a circus (it sold for $1.15 million). Other top sellers including multi-colored Beatles shot from 1967 which sold for $608,000 and the third highest seller,a semi-nude photograph of model Stephanie Seymour. The sale also featured images of Marilyn Monroe and Rudolf Nureyev among others. The auction raised money for the Richard Avedon Foundation.
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