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HELMUT NEWTON (German, b. 1920) BIG NUDE III, PARIS an accompanying certificate signed by the ph...

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HELMUT NEWTON (German, b. 1920) BIG NUDE III, PARIS an accompanying certificate signed by the ph...
HELMUT NEWTON (German, b. 1920) BIG NUDE III, PARIS an accompanying certificate signed by the photographer identifies this print as number 3 from an edition of 3 gelatin silver print mounted on board 78 3/4 x 47 1/4 in. (200 x 120 cm) 1980 PROVENANCE Rudolf Kicken, COLOGNE Private Collection, BRUSSELS LITERATURE "Constat de Beauté," VOGUE [PARIS], October 1980, p. 227 (illustrated) Bernard Lamarche-Vadel, ed., ARTISTES-REVUE BIMESTRIELLE D'ART CONTEMPORAIN, PARIS, January-February 1981 (cover illustration) Karl Lagerfeld, HELMUT NEWTON, BIG NUDES, Munich, 1990, n.p. (illustrated) Helmut Newton, PAGES FROM THE GLOSSIES FACSIMILES 1956-1998, 1998, Zürich, p. 435 (illustrated) BIG NUDE III is one of Helmut Newton's most celebrated images. This powerful photograph of a single standing figure is among his most widely published and exhibited works, its significance within his oeuvre recently emphasized by its selection as cover subject for his monumental book, SUMO. At first glance one could be forgiven for regarding this image as uncharacteristic of Newton's approach. Certainly the subject - a powerful-looking woman assertively naked save for her high-heeled shoes - conforms to the photographer's abiding obsession with women. Yet the picture is made against a plain white paper backdrop, and Newton is not known as a studio photographer. In fact, the studio is generally anathema to him. He regards his work as a process of reconstructed reportage, and he finds his inspiration in photographing his subjects in an authentic context. These are most usually glamorous female subjects depicted in erotically charged situations within their natural environments. Newton's work is built up from his observations as a kind of social anthropologist to certain privileged worlds. In fact, BIG NUDE III is not an exception to this rule. For the image has its inspiration in reality, in something observed by Newton and adapted to his own ends. He had seen photographs of the headquarters of the anti-terrorist German police. To help familiarize themselves with their quarry, they had life-size photographs of wanted terrorists pinned up on the walls. Berlin-born, Newton has regularly turned to aspects of German life and history for ideas. "Inspired by the German Police's life-size identity photos of political terrorists," he explains, "I began in 1980 two of my most successful series of nudes....The Big Nudes were some of my rare photos taken in a studio. As I never knew in what city or country I would find a suitable model for these pictures, I decided to work on a white background; the model lit with one strobe light that I would mostly place beside the model to her left" (PAGES FROM THE GLOSSIES, p. 422). This print is from an edition made by Newton in the 1980s. Originally planned as a slightly larger edition, the issue was capped at three, as confirmed in the certificate signed by Newton that accompanies the lot. This was at a time when Newton was just starting to establish a serious market for his work in the form of fine prints. His traditional forum had been the magazine page, but the Big Nudes and other works, printed in large formats, opened up new possibilities for the presentation of his pictures as impressive and imposing artifacts. The status of this image, printed to two meters height, was acknowledged by its inclusion in ARTISTES. REVUE BIMESTRIELLE D'ART CONTEMPORAIN as early as January-February 1981. There exists a small number of prints of the image in this format "Hors commerce." Two were made as gifts with dedications to friends; another continues to travel the world in exhibitions, while a further print is in the possession of the photographer.
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