Audrey Hepburn – Christie’s

Personal Collection of Audrey Hepburn, Christie’s King Street, London SW1, 27th September 2017

 Part II – Online Auction, 19th September – 3rd October 2017

Lot 127
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S, 1961
Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly on the set of the 1961 Paramount production Breakfast At Tiffany’s three gelatin silver production stills
largest sheet: 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm.)
Estimate: £1,000-1,500 / $1,300-1,900 / €1,100-1,600
CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2017

September is proving quite a month for sales by legendary actresses as following on the heels of the  Vivien Leigh sale at Sotheby’s we also have a sale of the possessions of Audrey Hepburn at Christie’s in London.  How does the song go ‘anything you can do I can do better’?

Lot 144
CHARADE, 1963
A COCKTAIL GOWN OF BLACK SATIN
GIVENCHY COUTURE
The two piece ensemble comprising a ftted bodice and skirt, each with a hem of semi-tubular black paillettes,
set on edge, with multiple canvas tags to the interior, as well as black woven label with canvas tag inscribed 23174,
designed for Audrey Hepburn as Regina “Reggie” Lampert in the 1963 Universal production Charade
Estimate: £50,000-80,000 / $64,000-100,000 / €55,000-86,000
CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2017

Audrey was more than just a beautiful film star and wonderful actress.  Due to her association with Givenchy she became almost accidentally a fashion icon and is indeed regarded as one of the most iconic figures of the last century and in her last years became a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.  One of the fund raising events she was involved in for UNICEF was a concert at the Barbican by Michael Tilson Thomas entitled From The Diary Of Anne Frank and Audrey was the narrator reading excerpts from the diary.  It was extremely moving as Audrey had experienced similar wartime distress and hardship living in Holland like Anne Frank and one could feel that she found the reliving of this time somewhat painful and that the words could indeed have been her own.  Afterwards in the green room she confessed that she had been shaking before she went onstage.

Lot 178
MY FAIR LADY, 1964/REX HARRISON
A CONTINENTAL GOLD SNUFF BOX, CIRCA 1965
Rectangular box, the cover and sides set with panels of sablé engine-turning with flared thumbpiece, the base of polished gold and engraved with the inscription To / Eliza Doolittle / from / Henry Higgins
2 3/8 in. (60 mm.) wide
2 oz. (60 gr.)
Estimate £5,000-8,000 / $6,400-10,000 / €5,500-8,600
CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2017

How well I remember sitting in the Regal Cinema in Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow in 1961 watching and loving Breakfast At Tiffany’s and now 56 years later it is regarded as one of the most-loved films of all time, even having been shown at the Royal Albert Hall with live orchestral accompaniment.

Lot 119
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S, 1961
Audrey Hepburn’s working script for the 1961 Paramount production Breakfast at Tiffany’s, dated 3 August, 1960, the script bound with two brass brads and comprising 140 pages of mimeographed typescript including deleted scenes, with 53 pages printed on yellow and 28 on blue paper representing changes to the script with varying dates through to 21 September 1960, the majority of pages with upper right corner either snipped, torn or folded down when completed, the parts for the character of Holly Golightly marked in Hepburn’s signature turquoise ink, with words underlined in blue ballpoint pen and pencil for emphasis, passages or directions crossed out, and approximately 20 pages annotated in Hepburn’s hand with copied out lines, minor amendments and notes including:
– p.15-16: where Holly asks Paul to help find her shoes for her visit to Sing Sing, Hepburn has amended Brown alligator [shoes] to Black, and deleted the lines And if you come across a black brassiere I can use that too… and garter-belt, garter-belt, garter-belt, garter-belt… I think maybe it’s hanging in the bathroom…would you mind…
– p.114: where the directions require Holly to rattle of sentences in Portugese, Hepburn has twice added the line Eu acho che voce esta gostando do acouqueiro
– p.119: next to …but I do love Jose Hepburn has suggested the revision I am mad about Jose – blank end page: Hepburn has jotted a brief scene list… intro, H-P-Sing Sing, P’s apt. bathrobe, cocktail, Sing Sing, Doc., drunk, scene in room, day on the town, library, chicken saffron, pickup… and scrawled the details of a fight f. 274 U. airl, 11.35 A.M.
11 x 8¾ in. (27.9 x 22.2 cm.)
Estimate: £60,000-90,000 / $77,000-110,000 / €65,000-97,000
CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2017

The sale is in two parts with Part 1 being offered at Christie’s London and Part ll in an online-only sale. The auctions  feature annotated film scripts, including Breakfast At Tiffany’s, original portraits from   photographers such as Cecil Beaton and Philippe Halsman, her personal wardrobe and many costumes  from her films including a black Givenchy cocktail dress from Charade although not the Breakfast At Tiffany’s dress which  was sold previously.

 

Lot 109
THE NUN’S STORY, 1959
TWO FOR THE ROAD, 1967
A COLOURESS PASTE TIARA
composed of a continuous series of graduated navette and circular shaped paste, to close-back settings on a sprung frame; worn by Audrey Hepburn to the London premiere of The Nun’s Story, July 1959 and as Joanna Wallace in the 1967 20th Century Fox production Two For The Road 11¼ in. (29 cm.) inner circumference
Estimate: £7,000-10,000 / $9,000-13,000 / €7,600-11,000
CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2017

This is the first time these items, which until now have remained with her family, have been offered for sale and they give us a rare glimpse into the very private world of a remarkable woman.

 

Lot 132
A SLEEP MASK SLEEP SHADE CO., CIRCA 1960
The blue satin shade applied with pink and blue lace-trimmed fowers, marked SLEEP SHADE CO., 282 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL 8 in. (20 cm.) long
Estimate: £100-150 / $130-190 / €110-160
CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2017

 

http://www.christies.com/audreyhepburn

Lot 219
A RED DRESS COAT
VALENTINO COUTURE, SPRING/SUMMER 1971
Of red silk gazar; together with a pair of Andrea Carrano scarlet pumps
Estimate: £1,000-1,500 / $1,300-1,900 / €1,100-1,600
CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2017

I am grateful to John Kirkwood for writing about this sale

AUCTION ALERT: Audrey Hepburn

AUCTION ALERT: Entertainment Memorabilia, Bonhams Knightsbridge, 29th June 2016

 Among the Audrey Hepburn related lots is this really rather special one which I thought may be of interest:

 

‘Lot 13

Hepburn Letters

 

AUDREY HEPBURN: A COLLECTION OF HANDWRITTEN LETTERS AND NOTES FROM AUDREY HEPBURN TO ACCLAIMED ACTOR SIR FELIX AYLMER,

1951-1960,

£3,000 – 4,000
€3,900 – 5,200

 

Lot Details

FILM AND TELEVISION

Audrey Hepburn: a collection of handwritten letters and notes from Audrey Hepburn to acclaimed actor Sir Felix Aylmer,

1951-1960,
providing a rare insight into a young Audrey Hepburn’s life both public and private, comprising: a handwritten autographed postcard dated 1951, from Monte Carlo sent while filming Monte Carlo Baby, she writes Would you believe it I’m in Monte Carlo working on the French and English version of a French Picture…this place is heavenly the best thing that’s happened to me.; a handwritten letter on The Whitehall, Chicago, headed stationary announcing her broken engagement to James Hanson from the start It is with a heavy heart I am writing to tell you James Hanson and I are no longer engaged, I know there is little I need explain to you, a gentleman of this profession. For a year I thought it possible to make our combined lives and careers work out…It is all very unhappy making but I am sure it is the only sensible dicision [sic]. with dated envelope November 14, 1952; a lighthearted note dated 9th August 1953 This is to say good bye and god bless you, until the happy day I see you again…; a letter from 20th May 1954 referencing her first play with Mel Ferrer, Ondine, Mel and I are still working on supernatural but are getting steadily naturally tirder[sic]…, a note inviting Aylmer to Hepburn and Ferrer’s ‘secret’ wedding, dated 14th September 1954, she writes …how dearly we would love you to be with us on our wedding day, 25 Sept., and how very much it matters to me. Please come we will have the car take you up to our mountain peak, Friday, for a gathering in our chalet of our nearest and dearest!…Saturday will be the wedding…We want to keep it a dark secret in order to have it without the ‘press’. Lots of love also from Mummy, Audrey, with a corresponding handwritten letter from Mel Ferrer and a follow up postcard handwritten by Hepburn We were so so sorry you could not come to our wedding, we wanted you there very badly…; two autographed typed letters relating to the premier of War and Peace signed by Hepburn and Ferrer dated 11th October and 12th November an extract states We long to hear from you soonest, as we can then confirm the seats for you. We also expect you to help us celebrate after the showing. Much love Audrey and Mel, the final correspondence is a short typescript autographed letter dated 17th August, 1960, a proud Audrey writes Dearest Felix,…Sean is truly a dream and I find it hard to believe he is really ours to keep. I long to show him to you. We all three send all our love signed in her distinctive turquoise blue ink and kisses Audrey; additionally there is a handwritten letter from James Hanson written prior to his broken engagement to Audrey; and two hand written letters from Audrey’s mother Ella van Heemstra, written during the run of Ondine and showing some disdain for Mel Ferrer That frog faced delinquent with the spindly legs has caused sufficient havoc to last a long time and I believe that Audrey is getting rather sick of the neurotic side to him!

FOOTNOTES

  • This collection of letters has remained within the extended family of Sir Felix Aylmer. Aylmer was Audrey Hepburn’s acting and elocution coach at the start of her career. The correspondence shows the affection that Audrey had for her mentor. She shares her career highs as well as her personal ups and downs which is a sign of the close relationship they shared. Through her letters she writes to him as a father figure and he was obviously a strong influence in her life at this time.’

 

http://www.bonhams.com

Celebrating the Image – Three London Exhibitions

Avedon Warhol, Gagosian, 6-24 Britannia Street, London WC1, until 23rd April 2016

My camera and I, together we have the power to confer or to take away.

—Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon Audrey Hepburn, actress, New York, January 20, 1967 Photograph by Richard Avedon © The Richard Avedon Foundation

Richard Avedon
Audrey Hepburn, actress, New York, January 20, 1967
Photograph by Richard Avedon
© The Richard Avedon Foundation

 

This is a major exhibition which celebrates two outstanding post-war talents whose common link was portraiture which they often repeated or serialized. Avedon, of course through photography and Warhol through his screen prints. It is a delightful experience and well worth a visit.

Andy Warhol Miriam Davidson , 1965 Spray paint and silkscreen ink on canvas 80 1/4 x 80 1/2 inches 203.8 x 204.5cm Private Collection © 2015 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Andy Warhol
Miriam Davidson , 1965
Spray paint and
silkscreen ink on canvas
80 1/4 x 80 1/2 inches
203.8 x 204.5cm
Private Collection © 2015 The Andy Warhol
Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights
Society (ARS), New York.

They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

—Andy Warhol

http://www.gagosian.com

 

 

Vogue 100: A Century of Style, National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London WC2, until 22nd May 2016

The Beatles, by Peter Laurie, 1964 Condé Nast Archive London

The Beatles, by Peter Laurie, 1964 Condé Nast Archive London

The British version of Vogue was started a hundred years ago during the First World War as it was no longer possible to ship Vogue from America. It was an instant hit and continues to this very day to be at the forefront of fashion design and photography as the many images in this exhibition celebrate.

 

http://www.npg.org.uk

 

 

Performing for the Camera, Tate Modern, The Eyal Ofer Galleries, Level 3, Bankside, London SE1, until 12thJune 2016

Claude Cahun, 1894 - 1954 Self Portrait 1927 Image courtesy of the Wilson Centre for Photography

Claude Cahun, 1894 – 1954
Self Portrait
1927
Image courtesy of the Wilson Centre for Photography

Some five hundred images, ranging from the beginning of photography to our “selfie” age of today illustrate how the relationship between photography and performance has developed. Sometimes it becomes serious art while at other times is more humorous and relaxed. It is a history that has strong resonance as any of us could be a “performer” caught in a camera lens.

Erwin Wurm, b.1954 One Minute Sculpture, 1997 c-print Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong

Erwin Wurm, b.1954
One Minute Sculpture, 1997
c-print
Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong

http://www.tate.org.uk

 

An Icon Portrayed

Once again I have asked John Kirkwood to contribute to my blog:

 

Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon, National Portrait Gallery, London, until 18th October 2015

Audrey Hepburn by Antony Beauchamp, 1955 Copyright: Reserved

Audrey Hepburn by Antony Beauchamp, 1955
Copyright: Reserved

For admirers of Audrey Hepburn (and who isn’t?) this exhibition is a real treat featuring as it does many rarely seen images as well as classics we have all come to know.

Dance recital photograph by Manon van Suchtelen, 1942 Copyright: Reserved

Dance recital photograph by Manon van Suchtelen, 1942
Copyright: Reserved

It takes us from Audrey’s early years as a dancer at Ciro’s night club, which by strange coincidence was located on the very spot in Orange Street which now houses the Gallery’s Heinz Archive and Study Room, through her film career right up to her inspiring work for UNICEF.

Audrey Hepburn on location in Africa for The Nuns Story by Leo Fuchs, 1958 Copyright: Leo Fuchs

Audrey Hepburn on location in Africa for The Nuns Story by Leo Fuchs, 1958
Copyright: Leo Fuchs

I am sure that she would have been amazed and indeed puzzled by becoming a modern icon and wonder what all the fuss was about as she was one of the very  few film stars about whom you could say ‘what you see is what you get’.

Costume test for Sabrina, Paramount Pictures, 1953 Copyright: Reserved

Costume test for Sabrina, Paramount Pictures, 1953
Copyright: Reserved

Not long before her death she appeared at the Barbican reading from the diary of Anne Frank to music composed by Michael Tilson Thomas. A truly magical night but afterwards she was telling everyone how she had been shaking with nerves.  This from one of the biggest stars in the world!

Audrey Hepburn dressed in Givenchy with sunglasses by Oliver Goldsmith by Douglas Kirkland, 1966 Copyright: Iconic Images/Douglas Kirkland

Audrey Hepburn dressed in Givenchy with sunglasses by Oliver Goldsmith by Douglas Kirkland, 1966
Copyright: Iconic Images/Douglas Kirkland

Film star, fashion icon, humanitarian and loving mother, all aspects are covered in this truly wonderful exhibition devoted to one of the best-loved actresses of all time.

 

 

npg.org.uk/hepburn

Beetles+Huxley

BOB WILLOUGHBY, Beetles+Huxley, 3-5 Swallow Street, London W1, until 4th October 2014

 BIG JAY MCNEELY, 1951 WILLOUGHBY, BOB (1927-2009) © Bob Willoughby/Beetles+Huxley


BIG JAY MCNEELY, 1951
WILLOUGHBY, BOB (1927-2009)
© Bob Willoughby/Beetles+Huxley

Bob Willoughby, as this exhibition shows first became known for his photographs of jazz musicians but in 1954 he was asked by Warner Brothers to photograph Judy Garland on the set of A Star Is Born, for Life Magazine and a new career beckoned giving him unprecedented access to the film sets.

AUDREY HEPBURN, 1953 WILLOUGHBY, BOB (1927-2009) © Bob Willoughby/Beetles+Huxley

AUDREY HEPBURN, 1953
WILLOUGHBY, BOB (1927-2009)
© Bob Willoughby/Beetles+Huxley

Over the next twenty years he photographed the making of films, including The Graduate, My Fair Lady and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and as the photographs show he was skilful in capturing the essence of the films he was working on. An innovative photographer he created many memorable images of stars such as Rock Hudson, Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman, Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn, Elvis Presley and Chet Baker which still beguile us today. His son Christopher said that he formed friendships with many of the stars, especially Audrey Hepburn and her family.

DUSTIN HOFFMAN, 1967 WILLOUGHBY, BOB (1927-2009) © Bob Willoughby/Beetles+Huxley

DUSTIN HOFFMAN, 1967
WILLOUGHBY, BOB (1927-2009)
© Bob Willoughby/Beetles+Huxley

VINCENT PRICE, 1958 WILLOUGHBY, BOB (1927-2009) © Bob Willoughby/Beetles+Huxley

VINCENT PRICE, 1958
WILLOUGHBY, BOB (1927-2009)
© Bob Willoughby/Beetles+Huxley

 

 

ELVIS PRESLEY AND SOPHIA LOREN, 1958 WILLOUGHBY, BOB (1927-2009) © Bob Willoughby/Beetles+Huxley

ELVIS PRESLEY AND SOPHIA LOREN, 1958
WILLOUGHBY, BOB (1927-2009)
© Bob Willoughby/Beetles+Huxley

http://www.beetlesandhuxley.com