WILLIAM KLEIN, Dwarf + Liquors, New York, 1954, 9.625x14.125" Gelatin silver print, Printed Printed later, Signed and inscribed in pencil on print verso: New York 1954 / William Klein. Photographer's address stamp in purple ink.

William Klein (b. 1928) was born in New York City. After graduating early from high school, he began studying sociology at the City College of New York. In 1946 he joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany, where he won his first camera in a poker game. After relocating to Paris in 1948, he studied at the Sorbonne with the assistance of the G.I. Bill, focusing on abstract painting and sculpture. Klein reconsidered photography, however, after collaborating with the architect Angelo Mangiarotti.

In 1954, Klein began his foray into fashion photography when Vogue published his photographs of Dutch barns, reminiscent of Mondrian. Shooting for Vogue during a brief return to New York, Klein took fashion photography in a whole new direction. He pioneered a new vision by taking the models out of the studio and onto the streets, capturing the beautiful and the grotesque all within wide-angle and telephoto shots. Widely acknowledged as a significant innovator in the history and design of the photo book, Klein published his first book Life is Good & Good for You in New York: Trance Witness Revels in 1956, which won the Prix Nadar the following year. In 1958, Klein began to explore the moving image, creating his first Pop film, Broadway by Light. He went on to produce several feature films and documentaries.

The recipient of numerous awards, Klein was honored with a Commander of Arts and Letters in France in 1989, the Medal of the Century by the Royal Photographic Society in London in 1999, the International Center of Photography Infinity Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2007, and the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award at the 2012 Sony World Photography Awards. Works by William Klein are included the collections of many institutions, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles; and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Klein continues to live and work in Paris, France.

CREDIT: Howard Greenberg Gallery
http://www.howardgreenberg.com/artists/william-klein

Very good. Minor edge wear, Minor wear, minor handling marks.