LOT Phillips de Pury & Company  /  PHOTOGRAPHS PART II  / 

169

WIM WENDERS (German, b. 1945) 'ENTIRE FAMILY', LAS VEGAS, NEW MEXICO signed, dated and editioned...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:2,500.00 - 3,500.00 USD
WIM WENDERS (German, b. 1945) 'ENTIRE FAMILY', LAS VEGAS, NEW MEXICO signed, dated and editioned...
WIM WENDERS (German, b. 1945) 'ENTIRE FAMILY', LAS VEGAS, NEW MEXICO signed, dated and editioned in ink below image dye-transfer print 13 1/4 x 16 1/2 in. (33.7 x 41.9 cm) 1983 printed 1989 this print is number 2 from an edition of 15 PROVENANCE Private Collection, LOS ANGELES LITERATURE Wim Wenders, WRITTEN IN THE WEST, Munich, 1987, cover image and pl. 31 (illustrated twice) Peter-Klaus Schuster and Nicole Hartje, BILDER VON DER OBERFLÄCHE DER ERDE: PHOTOGRAPHIEN VON WIM WENDERS, Munich, 2001, pl. 12 (illustrated) Shot by the director of BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB and THE MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL, this photograph is a powerful example of Wim Wenders' explorative series entitled WRITTEN IN THE WEST. Wenders created this series while traveling throughout the American West searching for locations to film PARIS, TEXAS (1984). To Wenders, the desolate and dilapidated landscapes of the American West represented a vanishing civilization. Moved by this country only touched by man but ruled by nature, and haunted by the ghosts of the American cowboy, he made a desperate attempt to preserve these landscapes by means of photography. He often states his admiration for Walker Evans' and Eugene Atget's photographic explorations, in which they act as conservators of a civilization threatened or diminishing. Evans was also the influence sparking Wenders' interest in including signs in his photographs. Shot with a medium-format camera, Wenders considered these photographs a way of connecting to a place. He claims: "Photography is a means of exploration, it's a vital part of travel, almost as essential as a car or plane. The photo camera makes arrival in place possible." The photographs evoke the same sense of yearning and wonder as a map. Wenders considers photography a solitary and personal pursuit, as he drove through the West unaccompanied and was able to become intimate with those locations he would be filming, constantly surrounded by crewmembers and actors. This photograph is dominated by the strength of line, color, and composition. It has the haunting quality of a town abandoned, but the colors give it a life of its own. Wenders was fascinated by the colors of the West, whether natural or those bold colors introduced by man. The frontality of the composition makes the image strongly graphic. The strength of the horizon in the vast western landscape seems to have dictated Wenders' approach.
Sign In to Bookmark Lot