Horst P Horst American 1906-1999
Male Nude, Back Study, 1952

£6,000

Silver print (printed later)
Signed (in margin) and copyright stamp (verso)
36.5 × 47.5 cm (image size), 40.5 × 50.5 cm (sheet size)
51 × 61 cm (framed)

One of the 20th century's premier photographers, Horst was a master of light, composition and atmospheric illusion, who conjured a world of sensual sophistication. Working mainly in Paris and New York, Horst created images that transcend fashion and time. In the early 1950s Horst produced a set of distinctive photographs unlike much of his previous work. The studies highlight Horst's sense of form, emphasising the idealised human body, using light and shadow. Monumental and anonymous nudes resemble classical sculptures. This image is one of a number of nudes that he exhibited for the first time in Paris in 1953. In the 1980s, he reprinted the images himself, to make them available to buy, following a resurgence of interest in his work.