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RICHARD AVEDON (American, b. 1923) BUCKMINSTER FULLER, ARCHITECT signed “Avedon” in black ink on ...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:3,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD
RICHARD AVEDON (American, b. 1923) BUCKMINSTER FULLER, ARCHITECT signed “Avedon” in black ink on ...
RICHARD AVEDON
(American, b. 1923)
BUCKMINSTER FULLER, ARCHITECT
signed “Avedon” in black ink on verso
artist’s stamp with copyright information, negative number “15” and edition, title and date inscribed
in ink on verso
gelatin silver print
915?16 x 713?16 in. (25.2 x 19.8 cm)
October 28, 1969
printed 1975
this print is number 4
from an edition of 50
ESTIMATE: $3,000-5,000
PROVENANCE
Christie’s NEW YORK, October 8, 1993, Lot 454
From an Important European Collection
LITERATURE
Richard Avedon and Doon Arbus, THE SIXTIES, NEW YORK, Random House, 1999, p. 188 (variant illustrated)
When this picture was taken, R. Buckminster Fuller was 74 years old and had just presented his trademark geodesic dome at the Montreal Expo in 1967. The dome, his most famous invention, introduced the concept of synergetic geometry, or the idea that all environmental components are connected. After his daughter died at the age of four from spinal meningitis, he was moved to improve the spaces in which humankind existed. Fuller believed that his daughter’s death was the result of environmental factors, some of which could have been avoided. From that point on, motivated to improve the conditions of collective living, Fuller produced nearly 300,000 geodesic domes.
Buckminster Fuller may be appreciated as a quintessential Avedon subject, someone selected for photographic veneration based on their profound contributions to society. Fuller died in 1983, the same year he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.