Richard Avedon
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor

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Artist Richard Avedon American, 1923–2004

CultureAmerican

Titles

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor

DateApril 16, 1957

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 7 × 6 15/16 in. (17.8 × 17.6 cm)
Sheet: 9 15/16 × 8 1/16 in. (25.3 × 20.4 cm)

Credit LineThe Sonia and Kaye Marvins Portrait Collection, museum purchase funded by Sonia and Kaye Marvins

Object number85.216

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Special Collections

Marvins Family Collections

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionIn 1964, Richard Avedon published a book titled Nothing Personal, in which the portraits were the opposite of the flattering images expected of celebrities. For his portrait of the Duke and Duchess, Avedon deliberately wanted to achieve something different than the happy and regal smiles they were used to flashing for cameras, so prior to taking the photo he told them news that he knew would distress them, reporting that he had seen a dog killed on his way to the studio. He captured their flinch of horror in reaction to the story and chose not to retouch the rings in the aging duchess’ neck.
Provenance[Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1985.
Exhibition History"Photographic Masterworks: Recent Acquisitions from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Glassell School, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, January 23–March 4, 1990.

"Famous/Infamous: Images of Celebrity from the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Shell and the American Landscape Museum, Houston, October 23–December 9, 2002.

“Made for Magazines: Iconic 20th-Century Photographs,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 9–May 4, 2014.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed in pencil, verso, center below stamp: "The Duchess of Windsor 4/16/57 / 2/7 Avedon [signed]"

Inscribed in pencil, verso, center below stamp: "Avedon"

Impressed on recto, in margin of image: "Aveon"

Stamped in black, verso, center: "This photograph may not be reproduced without / written permission of Richard Avedon / Copyright © 1959 by Richard Avedon / All Rights reserved"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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