WILLIAM KLEIN

City & Street

 City & Street
A legendary figure in both photography and film with
a career spanning over half a century, it has long been
recognised that William Klein began his artistic career as a
painter, however his paintings have scarcely been seen or
published since they were first exhibited in the early 1950s.
William Klein: Paintings Etc unveiled an exceptional group
of Klein’s early paintings and experiments in photography.
Giving a new perspective on his entire career, they
reveal an incredibly accomplished young artist. The
foundations of his unique visual language are clearly seen
as his trajectory is traced through painting, architecture,
photography, books and film. Together with original
paintings from the late 1940’s and early 1950’s the show
contained large-scale abstract silver gelatin works, and
the first in a series of monumental painted Mural Projects,
all conceived between 1950 and 1953, and only now
realised at full scale. These where shown alongside early
black and white images of New York, and unique Painted
Contacts.
HackelBury Fine Art’s exhibition coincided with a major
retrospective at Tate Modern in October 2012, and a
further publication ABC - a celebration of William Klein’s
long and exemplary career to date. A BBC documentary in
the ‘Imagine’ series made with Alan Yentob was broadcast
in early 2012.
‘While journalism was stagnating into sentimentalism and
spectacle, Klein had found a new approach. Openly
subjective photography combined with vivid captions of
insight and thoughtful revelation, leading the reader to the
deeper truths of four very different postwar societies’
© David Campany/Contrasto, from William Klein: Paintings, Etc
Published September 2012. All rights reserved, not to be reproduced without prior permission.

All images are available as folllows unless otherwise marked:

75 x 105cm $12,000 + frame and VAT from edition of 30

125 x150cm $14,500 + Frame and VAT from the same edition of 30

40x 50cm $4000 + frame and VAT (signed but not editioned)
50 x 60cm $5000 + frame and VAT (signed but not editioned)
 Bikini, Moscow, 1959 - 40 x 50cm $5000 + frame and VAT, 50 x 60cm $6000 + frame and VAT
Dance in Brooklyn, New York, 1955

Kasuro Oro et Cie, Tokyo, 1961 Kiev Station, 1959

 Rheingold, New York, 1955
Candy Store, New York, 1955

Cadillac, New York, 1954-55 Barrista boys, Rome, 1958

Mayday Parade, Moscow, 1961 Moves + Pepsi, Harlem, 1955
Big Face, Big Buttons, New York, 1955
Armistice Day, Paris (Le Petit Magot, Paris), 1968

Gun 1, New York, 1955 - 40 x 50cm $5000 + frame and VAT, 50 x 60cm $6000 + frame and VAT
Via del Corso, 1989
WILLIAM KLEIN WILLIAM KLEIN

Atom Bomb Sky, 1955 - 40 x 50cm $5000 + frame and VAT, 50 x 60cm $6000 + frame and VAT

75 x 105cm $25,000 + frame and VAT from edition of 30

125 x150cm $30,000 + Frame and VAT from the same edition of 30

HACKEL
BURY FINE ART HACKEL
BURY FINE ART
Wings of the Hawk, 42nd Street, New York, 1955 Selwyn 42nd Street, New York, 1955 - 40 x 50cm $5000 + frame and VAT,
50 x 60cm $6000 + frame and VAT
Film Strips from Broadway by Light 1958 Film Strips from Broadway by Light #2 1958
Photograms from Broadway By Light, 1958 Film Strips from Broadway by Light #4 1958
About William Klein COLLECTIONS Saint-Gervais Center, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997

National Foundation, Madrid, Spain, 1997

After initial training at the Sorbonne as part of the post-war GI Bill, New York born Klein spent a brief Museum of Modern Art de la Ville, Paris
period in the Paris studio of Fernand Léger. He exhibited figurative paintings and abstract Mural Projects The National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen Caixa Foundation, Barcelona, Spain, 1996
together in Milan in 1952. At this time he was commissioned by the architect Mangiarotti to paint Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA, 1996
murals onto a series of turning panels, creating endless combinations of pattern and form. A chance Centre Pompidou - Musée National d´Art Moderne, Paris Maison Europeene De La Photographie, Paris, 1996
discovery when documenting the panels was a revelation: captured as they were revolving, a new energy Institut d’art contemporain Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes,
and dynamism was introduced into the geometric abstractions. The process of photography enabled Villeurbanne
Museum Of Modern Art, San Francisco, 1995
an exploration of scale, form and movement that informed all that followed. The resulting abstract FNAC, Paris, Marseille And Travelling, 1995
Yokohama Museum of Art, Nishi-ku, Yokohama
photographs and revolving panels were exhibited in Paris at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles in 1953,
National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, Tokyo International Center of Photography (Icp) New York, 1994
where they were seen by Alexander Liberman from American Vogue. A meeting ensued and Klein was
Fotostiftung Schweiz (Schweizerische Stiftung für die
offered a contract to join Vogue for special projects and later for experimental fashion photos, and it Presidential Palace, Prague, Czechoslovakia, 1994
Photographie), Winterthur
was agreed that Vogue would finance a book on New York. Returning to New York, Klein let loose on Printemps De La Photo, Cahors, 1993
the city, taking fashion photography in a whole new direction; beauty and the grotesque all within wide- The Art Institute, Chicago
angle and telephoto shots. Taking the models out of the studio and onto the streets, his revolutionary The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL Morsbroich Museum, Leverkasen, 1993

techniques pioneered a new vision. Simultaneously he was producing the book; Life is Good and Good Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL Beaux Arts, Almeria, Spain, 1992
for you in New York: Trance Witness Revels (1956). Capturing the rough and tumble of daily life on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Stadts Museum, Munich, Germany, 1992
mean streets of New York and harnessing the explosive energy of the city through juxtapositions and The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI
bold captions, Klein’s brutally honest images and uncompromising vision caused a major a sensation. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY Hasselslad Center, Göteborg, Sweden, 1990
Although Vogue declined to publish in the US, maverick film-maker Chris Marker championed the project San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA National Library, Turin, Italy, 1990
to be published in Paris. It went on to win the Prix Nadar in 1957. Rome followed in 1958-59, and
Volkwang Museum, Essen, Germany, 1990
Moscow and Tokyo in 1960. All of these publications are highly sought-after today, and Klein is widely SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
acknowledged as a significant innovator in the history of the photo book. Finnish Film Archives, Helsinki, Finland, 1989
William Klein, FOAM Museum, Amsterdam, 2013
Museum Of Moving Images, London, 1989
William Klein is also an accomplished and highly respected filmmaker, beginning his foray into the Paintings, Etc, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, 2013
moving image in 1958 with the first ‘Pop’ film Broadway by Light. Omnipresent in each of Klein’s films Musée d’Elysée, Lausanne, France, 1988
is the same uncompromising vision that characterises his still images. Abandoning photography in the William Klein + Daido Moriyama, Tate Modern, London,
2012-2013 Osaka Museum, Osaka, Japan, 1988
mid-1960s to focus his attention on filmmaking, Klein produced a portfolio of iconoclastic films including
Ludwig Museum, Cologne, Germany, 1988
Cassius the Great, later re-edited with new footage as Muhammed Ali, The Greatest; Little Richard; the Paintings, Etc, HackelBury Fine Art, London, 2012
Vietnam War; and experimental films such as Mr Freedom and Qui-Êtes Vous Polly Magoo. His last film Klein & Cie, Polka Galerie, Paris, 2009 Museum Of Photographic Arts, San Diego, California, USA,
to date Messiah (1999) reveals on an epic scale a summary of the themes present throughout his artistic 1987
Mai 68, l’exposition Historique, Cosmos Galerie, Paris, 2008
career. Printemps Ginza, Tokyo, Japan, 1987
Paris en couleurs, Hôtel de Ville, Paris, 2008
Klein returned to still photography in the 1980’s, ever progressive and unrelenting in his approach. Museum Of Modern Art, Paris, 1987
Revisiting his work to that date, he made large-scale blow-ups of his photographic contact sheets, Réalités, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, 2008
Victoria And Albert Museum, London, 1986
revealing on an unparalleled scale the frames before and after the decisive image. Liberally applying Exposition de William Klein, Artothèque municipale de
Grenoble, 2007 Fotofest, Houston, Texas, USA, 1986
gloss brush strokes in bold colours to these mural-sized prints, Klein brought together key elements from
his long and varied career: graphic form, composition and colour from the early murals and paintings Italie double vision, Maison Européenne de la photographie, Corcoran Gallery, Washington, USA, 1985
juxtaposed with ground-breaking fashion and street photographs, along with the narrative and bold Paris, 2007
3 Castles In Drome, France, 1985
visual language of his experimental films. A defining moment where his unique vision came full circle. Prints 1955-2007, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York,
Municipal Galleries, Zagreb And Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1984
2007
In 1963 at Photokina, Cologne, Klein was named one of the 30 most important photographers of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1983
century. In 1989 he was made a Commander of Arts and Letters in France. Subsequently in 1990 he won Highlights, Maison du Danemark, Paris, 2006

the prestigious Hasselblad Award and in 1999 he was awarded the Medal of the Century by the Royal Municipal Gallery, Albi, France, 1982
Rétrospective, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2005
Photographic Society in London. In 2007 he received the International Center of Photography Infinity International Festival, Malmö, 1982
House of Photography, Moscow, 2004
Award for Lifetime Achievement, and more recently in April 2012, he was awarded the Outstanding
American Centre, Paris, 1981
Contribution to Photography Award at the 2012 Sony World Photography Awards. Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, 2002
Moma, New York, 1980
Grand Manege, Moscow, 1999
At the age of 85 Klein continues to live and work in Paris, France.
Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1999 Canon Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland ,November, 1979

FNAC, Paris, 1999 National Foundation of Photography, Lyon, France, 1979

Photographers’ Gallery, London, January, 1978

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, US, 1978

Fiolet Gallery, Amsterdam, January, 1978

Festival International, Arles, France, July, 1977

The History of Fashion Photography, International Museum

of Photography at George Eastman House, Rochester, NY

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA,

1978

Cincinnati Art Institute, Cincinnati, OH, 1978

Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL, 1978

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1967

Jaeger, London, 1965

Photokina, Cologne,1963

Fuji Photo Salon, Tokyo,1961

Vista Books, London,1960

La Hune, Paris. November, 1956

Saarbrucken, Subjecktive Fotografie 2, 1954

Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, Paris,1954

Galerie Apollo, Brussels, December, 1953

Galleria del Milione, Milan. January,1952

Piccolo Teatro, Milan, 1952

Galerie Dietrich-Lou Cosyns, Brussels, 1951