Melvin SokolskySchool Room, Paris1963
1963
About the Item
- Creator:Melvin Sokolsky (1933, American)
- Creation Year:1963
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU29773482
Melvin Sokolsky
Through his lens, Melvin Sokolsky built a world of surreal mystery. His most iconic series, depicting a woman in a plexiglass bubble, remains one of the most recognizable works of fine art photography today.
Born in New York City in 1933, he had no formal photography training. Instead, he learned by experimenting with his father’s box camera and analyzing photographs his father had developed.
At 21, he joined the staff at Harper's Bazaar. Soon after, Sokolsky landed projects for many other notable magazines, including Esquire and McCall’s. He went on to teach at the School of Visual Arts.
In 1969, Sokolsky became a television commercial director. He won several Clio Awards, as well as numerous other major commercial awards. Many of his commercials are in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collections. Sokolsky developed a computerized zoom lens, which he presented at the Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1972; he went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for the technology.
Across his career, Sokolsky photographed or directed a number of celebrities, including American actors Ben Affleck and Dustin Hoffman, as well as American singing and acting legend Barbara Streisand.
Sokolsky received an abundance of recognition for his work, including being named an Explorer of Light by the Canon camera company in 1995. He received the first annual Lucie Award for outstanding achievement in fashion photography in 2003, and the Louvre in Paris held a celebration for his work that same year.
Sokolsky exhibited at many world-class galleries, including at Staley-Wise in New York in 1997, Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles 2008 and Galerie Acte 2 in Paris in 2010 and 2011.
Towards the end of his life, Sokolsky worked for Canon, lecturing internationally and serving as one of its global company ambassadors. He died in 2022. His body of work spanning several decades is in numerous prestigious collections, including the Getty in Los Angeles and Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
On 1stDibs, enter the wondrous world of Melvin Sokolsky’s photography.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Collapse in a GardenBy David LaChapelleLocated in New York, NYSigned by the photographer.Category
1990s Photography
MaterialsC Print
- Bouquet Seine, ParisBy Melvin SokolskyLocated in New York, NYGelatin Silver or Archival Pigment Print. All editions signed by the photographer.Category
1960s Photography
- Pas de DeuxBy Joel GreyLocated in New York, NYSigned by the photographerCategory
2010s Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- A Light from WithinBy Joel GreyLocated in New York, NYSigned by the photographerCategory
2010s Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Catherine WilkeBy Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYCatherine Wilke, 1980: Catherine Wilke joins the topless sunbathers on the island of Capri, Italy. Staley-Wise Gallery offers photographic prints from...Category
1980s Photography
MaterialsC Print
- To Any LengthsBy Slim AaronsLocated in New York, NYTo Any Lengths, 1954: Slim Aarons photographing Mara Lane from the top of an extending ladder by the swimming pool at Sands Hotel, Las Vegas. Staley-Wise Gallery offers photographic...Category
1950s Color Photography
MaterialsC Print
- chanson d'amour VIBy Akif Hakan CelebiLocated in PARIS, FRThe artwork come directly from the Artist studio The artwork is dated, signed and numbered by the Artist on verso of the Diasec.../7 The artwork come accompanied with an original Ce...Category
2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsDigital
- Poliptico Objetos Memorables IIBy Viviana ZargónLocated in New York, NYViviana Zargón constructs a pictorial universe of industrial imagination in the exploration of abandoned and empty spaces. Using photography and paintin...Category
2010s Photography
MaterialsArchival Paper
- Massimo Listri 'Biblioteca di Strahov, Praga'By Massimo ListriLocated in New York, NYMassimo Listri is a Florence-based photographer whose work often presents interiors of great architectural and cultural importance, some open to the public, others not easily accessi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Photography
MaterialsC Print
- Venaria Reale II - Torino (from Perspectives series)By Massimo ListriLocated in New York, NY"What makes his work unique is how he has made interiors look so absolutely vivid, as if they had a secret life of their own that only he knows how to portray. Listri has the extraor...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsC Print
- "Phalco's Look” Spaniel, Romantic Dog Photograph with beveled plexiglass frameLocated in Charleston, USAlain Foussier, born in France living in the Netherlands, perfects the mood and spirit of Spaniel dogs with his portrait photography. His Spaniel dog a...Category
2010s Romantic Color Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper
- Shirt Off Your Back (Deep, Blue, See)By Aubrey RoemerLocated in New York, NYShirt Off Your Back (Deep, Blue, See), 2016 Discarded t-shirts from refugees on Lesvos, Inkodye light emulsion prints, life jacket swatches, tape 110 x 65 inches (280 x 165 cm) A collection of the eyes of refugee women and children printed...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsMixed Media
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Inside the Bubble of Melvin Sokolsky
In the early 1960s, the photographer captured elegant models soaring through the air and floating in bubbles over Paris and New York. Now, we reveal the secrets behind his magical compositions.
Kali Is an Art World Sensation, 40 Years after She Hid Her Work Away
A newly discovered trove of her kaleidoscopic works reveals that the enigmatic artist captured the zeitgeist of 1960s Southern California.