Eye of the Beholder: Photographs from the Collection of Richard Avedon

When Richard Avedon died on October 1st, 2004, he left an extraordinary collection of photographs that spans two centuries and reflects an eye attuned equally to masterworks and mug shots. Few had seen the private collection with which he surrounded himself in his apartment on East 75th Street in New York.

These photographs, assembled over five decades, are the subject of Eye of the Beholder: Photographs from the Collection of Richard Avedon, comprising five fully-illustrated volumes housed in a sturdy slipcase. Avedon knew a good photograph when he saw one. Though he was far more interested in making pictures than collecting them, he lived surrounded by photographs of every kind, from the exalted to the unknown. "Neurotic women" (his words) were among his particular interests, though his curiosity was vigorous and his pursuits could not be predicted.

The photographs in Avedon's collection were acquired primarily by purchase, in some cases by gift. Several bear inscriptions of respect or affection from other artists, notably Jacques-Henri Lartigue and Henri Cartier-Bresson, photographers with whom he forged significant friendships. Avedon was also the first of only three people to purchase Diane Arbus's landmark portfolio A Box of Ten Photographs, a gesture that signaled so much to the artist that she re-titled his portfolio to include an eleventh print. Avedon's collections of portraits by Peter Hujar, of cigarette still lifes by Irving Penn, and of studies of the 19th century beauty, the Countess de Castiglione (1827-99), are unrivaled.

Publisher: Fraenkel Gallery (2006)