 |
Bergstrom over Paris
from the series Sleepless Nights
1976
© Helmut Newton Estate
|
(Venice, Italy) Helmut Newton was a naughty boy who became a legend when he published his first photography book
White Women in 1976, paving the way for the visual eroticism of fashion. Newton was 56-years-old when the book came out, which shocked and seduced the world by revolutionizing the standard of how the female image was viewed.
 |
Rue Aubriot
from the series White Women
Paris 1975
© Helmut Newton Estate
|
Newton was born Helmut Neustädter on October 31, 1920 in Weimer Republic Berlin into a wealthy Jewish family. He bought his first camera at age 12, and started working with German theatrical photographer Yva in 1936. As the sultry world of the Weimer Republic morphed into Nazi Germany, and Jews became increasingly restricted, his father lost his business, and was briefly interred in a concentration camp. His parents fled to South America; Newton went to Singapore in 1938. When Germany invaded France, German Jews were considered enemy aliens, and Newton was sent to an internment camp in Australia in 1940.
 |
Tied Up Torso
from the series Big Nudes
Ramatuelle 1980
© Helmut Newton Estate
|
Newton became a naturalized Australian, served in the army and, in 1948, married the actress June Brunell, who used the
nom de plume Alice Springs as a photographer. June was constantly by his side and shared his social and professional life, enjoying such antics as posing for him nude while doing household chores. Newton would remain married to her for the rest of his life.
 |
Self-Portrait with Wife and Models
from the series Big Nudes
Vogue Studio, Paris 1981
© Helmut Newton Estate
|
We can only imagine how it was to grow up with a background like that, but Newton chose to respond with an ironic sense of humor, crossing fashion with transgression, and worked with professional models and friends who were in on the joke. At the time Newton arrived on the fashion scene, the image of the female in magazines was compliant and subservient. He flipped that image on its head. Newton's models were bold, strong and in charge of their own sexuality.
 |
| Dummy and human III, Paris, 1977 |
Over the course of his career, he worked for such fashion designers as Chanel,Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent; celebrities like Ava Gardner, Charlotte Rampling, Sigourney Weaver and Raquel Welch; and major fashion magazines like
Vogue,
Vanity Fair,
GQ and
Marie Claire.
 |
| Charlotte Rampling, Hotel Nord-Pinus I Arles, 1973 |
On view at Tre Oci are images from
White Women,
Sleepless Nights and
Big Nudes, the first three legendary books that Newton published in the late 1970s, and the only ones Newton himself curated. Newton juxtaposed pictures he had been commissioned to take with kinkier ones he took for himself, like
Sie kommen, where he had four models dressed in fashion, then had them strike the same pose completely nude except for shoes.
 |
Sie kommen
(dressed & undressed)
from the series Big Nudes
Paris 1981
|
Though his photos pushed the edge, Newton's personality was said to be warm and sweet, open and generous. Helmut and June were known as a fun couple who deeply loved life, and each other.
Helmut Newton died in Los Angeles at age 83 when he lost control of his car while leaving the Chateau Marmont Hotel on Sunset Boulevard -- the Newtons wintered there when not in Monte Carlo. He had suffered a heart attack. June was in the car with him, but is still going strong in her nineties.
 |
| Garden of Bauer Palladio Hotel & Spa - Photo: Cat Bauer |
After viewing the photos with Matthias Harder, the Curator of the exhibition and chief Curator at the
Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin, and Denis Curti, Co-curator of the exhibition and Artistic Director of
Casa dei Tre Oci on Friday, we enjoyed a Venetian
lunch with pizzazz in the enchanted garden of the
Bauer Palladio Hotel & Spa, a collaborator of the project, surrounded by spring flowers.
Helmut Newton Fotografie runs through August 7, 2016.
HELMUT NEWTON FOTOGRAFIE
White Women
Sleepless Nights
Big Nudes
April 7 to August 7
Casa dei Tre Oci
Fondamenta delle Zitelle, 43
30133 Giudecca - Venice
Zitelle boat stop, lines 4.1, 4.2, or 2
Daily 10am to 7pm, closed Tuesday
+39 041 241-2332
Full price tickets €12; reductions for students and over 65
www.treoci.org
#newtonvenezia #treoci
Ciao from Venezia,
Cat
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog
Helmut Newton was a naughty boy who became a legend when he published his first photography book White Women in 1976, paving the way for the visual eroticism of fashion. Newton was 56-years-old when the book came out, which shocked and seduced the world by revolutionizing the standard of how the female image was viewed.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! He was a pioneer with his photography and life!
Delete