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Bikini, Moscow

Artist William Klein (American, 1926 - 2022)
Date1959
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage and sheet: 15 1/4 × 19 7/16 inches (38.74 × 49.37 cm)
Mount: 15 1/4 × 19 7/16 inches (38.74 × 49.37 cm)
Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Object number2005.27.2743
SignedSigned on mount verso, lower right, in pencil: "William Klein"; Artist's stamp on mount verso, lower right corner, in red ink: "william klein / 9, rue falguière, paris / ség. 51-34"
InscribedTitled and dated on mount verso, lower left, in pencil: "Bikini, Moscow 1959"; Titled and dated on mount verso, bottom, in pencil, black marker, and red pencil: "Bikini MOSCOW 1959"
MarkingsOn mount verso, bottom, in pencil: "PF39365", "BKV-91C".
On View
Not on view
Collections
DescriptionVintage gelatin silver print. Image of a woman in a bikini, laughing, older man sitting in the background.Exhibition History

Rotation 23. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, January 18 – May 28, 2017, no cat.

Gallery Label
While working as fashion photographer in the 1950s–60s, William Klein made highly charged, personal photographs in New York, Rome, Tokyo, and Moscow. Images such as this convey the gritty, spontaneous energy of Klein’s urban experiences, which he found to be both exhilarating and alienating. Klein’s aggressive approach helped establish a more expressionistic, emotionally charged style of artistic street photography.
Provenance
Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, NY;
Purchased from Howard Greenberg Gallery by Hallmark Cards Inc., Kansas City, MO, 2001;
Given by Hallmark Cards, Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.
CopyrightThis work is copyrighted. Contact VAGA, New York, New York
Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


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