Richard Corman Portrait Photography

Richard Corman Jean-Michel Basquiat 1984 (Red), 2020 Offset lithograph poster on color archival pigment paper Signed and numbered 2/100 by Richard Corman in silver sharpie on the fro...

Richard Corman Jean-Michel Basquiat VI: A Portrait, 1984, 2018 Gelatin silver print Signed, titled, dated and numbered 4/30 by Richard Corman in marker on the reverse 20 × 16 inches...

Richard Corman Madonna NYC '83 (hand signed and numbered 1/1 by the photographer on the front and the back), 2010 Black and white photographic print on archival pigment paper Hand signed, titled and numbered 1/1 on the front as well as the back (signed twice) Frame included: framed in a museum quality black wood frame with UV plexiglass Madonna '83 is a 36 square inch photograph on archival pigment paper, numbered 1 of 1 by the legendary photographer Richard Corman, who began his career as Richard Avedon's apprentice. The work is signed, titled and numbered 1/1 (unique) on both the front of the photograph, as well as the back of the frame. It is elegantly framed in a museum quality black wood frame with UV plexiglass. Measurements: Frame: 37.5 x 37.5 x 2 inches Photograph: 35.5 x 35.5 inches This photograph was taken during Richard Corman's historic photoshoot with Madonna in the early 1980s, and it was reprinted in 2010. Richard Corman's famous photographs of Madonna during that period have been reproduced in books, magazines, tv clips and newspapers - and are considered the most iconic images ever taken of Madonna. We are incredibly honored to be exclusively offering this iconic photograph for the very first time -- in honor of Madonna's 65th birthday. Here, Madonna is just a natural beauty, youthful, confident, vulnerable, natural, and extraordinarily poised. The photograph was taken while she was on the cusp of superstardom, but still anxious, striving, going on casting calls, and waiting for her big break. As Richard Corman explains, she is shown sitting amidst the rubble of the back yard of her Lower East side apartment. In his own words, photographer Richard Corman describes how this famous sitting came about: My mother was Cis Corman, a renowned casting director in New York City. In the summer of 1982 she was casting The Last Temptation of Christ for Martin Scorsese and called me to say they had just tested a girl for the part of the Virgin Mary. She said, “You must meet this girl — she’s an original.” I was 28 and had just finished an apprenticeship with Richard Avedon and was looking for interesting people to shoot. So I got this girl’s number and called. It was Madonna. At the time she was living in Alphabet City [Lower East Side of Manhattan], and she suggested I go to her apartment and chat about what I wanted to do. I had to call her from a phone booth across the street, because the neighborhood was full of drug dealers, and they didn’t let people just walk in and out. There was a group of kids outside the building, on the stoop, in the hallways, and when I said I was there for Madonna the seas parted. I looked up the staircase, and I saw this girl leaning over the edge of the banister, and even from three stories below I could see these catlike eyes just looking down. I knew at that moment that she had something special — I really did. She had her best friend and neighbor, Martin, with her — he later died of AIDS—and we sat and talked. She served me a cup of coffee on a silver tray with three pieces...

Richard Corman Keith Haring 1 - NYC, 1985 (hand signed twice), 2022 Photographic print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Ultrasmooth paper mounted on Dibond aluminum board. (Hand signed and numbered on both the front and back of the board) Hand signed and numbered 1/10 twice (front and back) and also titled on the back by Richard Corman Frame Included: gorgeously housed in a wood frame, hand painted in orange This photograph of Keith Haring was taken in 1985 at his 676 Broadway studio, by celebrated photographer Richard Corman while on assignment for L'Uomo Vogue. By that time, Corman had already taken some of the most memorable and iconic photographs of Madonna and later Basquiat - so it was fitting that this stylish Italian publication would choose him to photograph Keith Haring - already a major New York art star at the time. Corman's iconic photograph of Haring was reprinted in 2022 in a limited edition, and was featured in the exhibition "I Shot The Messenger!" - a solo presentation of his work at Frevo in New York City from September 11 to November 11, 2022. It is held in a bespoke wooden frame hand painted in orange. This gorgeous print is signed twice: Richard Corman signed, titled, dated and numbered one of only ten (1/10) on the back in black marker, and also boldly signed and numbered in black marker on the front. A video of the artist signing this work will be provided to the purchaser. (see still photos of Corman signing this work.) Measurements: Frame: 41.5 x 38.25 x 2 inches Photograph: 40 x 36.75 inches Exhibition History: "I Shot the Messenger", Frevo Gallery, New York, New York, 2022 Richard Corman speaks on his first encounter with Keith Haring: "To my surprise, when Keith answered the door, this unassuming building revealed to me a labyrinth of finished and unfinished artworks, bursting with color. I was familiar with Keith's graffiti in the subway stations, his murals, and the unique language of his art which raised awareness of AIDS and fought against the infiltration of illegal drugs. However, while positioning him around the space and working to capture something special during our time together, I realized this person was undeniably an original. His calm presence defied his free spirit, which revealed itself as he placed himself in front of my camera. These images offer up a glimpse at the confidence and price that Keith had in his own unique language for communicating his message to the world." About Richard Corman: While Richard Corman’s photography varies widely in subject matter, it is always intensely focused on the infinitely varied expressions of the human spirit. Ken Burns, documentarian and director, describes Richard’s work as: "Artistic vision dedicated to the highest aspirations of human endeavor... the photographs record in big moments and small, among the famous and ordinary, the gifted and challenged, larger truths relevant to all of us." As a portrait photographer, Corman has worked with a thrilling breadth of subjects from Nobel Peace Prize recipients Nelson Mandela and Elie Wiesel...