Hell's Angel (Doug), San Francisco
Artist
Irving Penn
(American, 1917 - 2009)
Date1967
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage and sheet: 13 5/8 × 13 9/16 inches (34.62 × 34.39 cm)
Mount: 16 × 17 1/16 inches (40.64 × 43.33 cm)
Mount: 16 × 17 1/16 inches (40.64 × 43.33 cm)
Credit LineGift of Ken Ross
Object number2021.27
SignedSigned on mount verso, lower right, in black pen with black stamp: "[signature] IRVING PENN";
Stamped on mount verso, center, in black ink with black pen: "PHOTOGRAPHY BY IRVING PENN / Copyright © 1967 by / IRVING PENN / Not to be reproduced without / written permission of the / photographer. "
InscribedOn mount verso, top center, in black pen: "HELL'S ANGEL (DOUG) / SAN FRANCISCO, 1967"
MarkingsOn mount verso, upper left, in black pen: "REF:480";
On mount verso, lower left, in black pen: "Print made before 1975. / [initials].";
On mount verso, lower right, black stamp with black pen: "SIGNED SILVER PRINTS OF / THIS NEGATIVE NOT EXCEEDING 15."
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionImage of a man with curly hair seated on a motorcycle with his head turned towards the viewer. He wears long pants, boots, and a t-shirt with a sleeveless jacket.Gallery LabelIn 1967, on assignment for Life magazine, photographer Irving Penn travelled to northern California to photograph rock musicians, hippies, and other groups shaping American counterculture. With some trepidation, he invited members of the Hell’s Angels, the notorious motorcycle gang, to pose with their bikes in a converted barn studio. Penn reinforced the floor to ensure the Angels could ride their motorcycles into the freight elevator and onto the second floor, where he photographed them against a spare, concrete backdrop. The resulting portraits depict the Angels—many of whom had criminal records—using the same aesthetic approach that Penn used to photograph aristocrats, celebrities, and fashion models in his New York studio.
Mary & Dan Solomon, California;
Acquired from the Solomons by Ken Ross, Scottsdale, AZ;
Given by Ken Ross to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2021
Acquired from the Solomons by Ken Ross, Scottsdale, AZ;
Given by Ken Ross to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2021
Copyright© The Irving Penn Foundation / Matthew Krejcarek
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