Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Portraits of Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, and More to Be Sold
When one thinks of portraits of Henry VIII, his wives, or any member of the Tudor Dynasty, 16th-century Renaissance paintings are likely to come to mind. But, photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto offers another take, and his versions of royal portraits are heading to sale at Sotheby's starting October 25.
Deutsche Guggenheim commissioned Sugimoto's Portraits in 1999 and the first subjects of the series were Henry VIII and his wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. How does one take a photo portrait of a subject that died nearly 500 years ago? Wax figures made by the legendary Madame Tussaud. Drawing from Renaissance portraits of the family, Sugimoto took three-quarter view, negative photos of the wax figures.
"Henry VIII and his wives were the first images in the Portrait series that I photographed in front of a black background in a makeshift lighting studio set up behind the scenes at Madame Tussauds in London," Sugimoto tells T&C. "I knew that Hans Holbein the Younger was Henry VIII’s royal court painter, so I studied his paintings and the posing of his subjects. Using modern lighting, I recreated the soft northern light of an early Renaissance painting studio.”
It wasn't just an affinity for British royals that drove Sugimoto's decision to use these particular subjects for this series but, rather, an interest in dissecting a viewer's relationship to history while blurring the lines between past and present.
"While a 16th-century portrait painter like Hans Holbein would use his technical skill to impress the court and gain royal favor, in the 20th century, Hiroshi Sugimoto uses his technical skill to spark conversations about what is real, what is fabricated, and even what is art itself," Emily Bierman, Sotheby’s Global Head of Photographs tells T&C. "The artisans who sculpted the figures took their inspiration from 16th-century likenesses of Henry VIII and each of his six wives. Of course, no one knows what they actually looked like, which means we are seeing a fabrication of a fabrication of a fabrication."
Sugimoto's interest in this theme can also be seen in his series, Dioramas (1976). Like the aforementioned portraits, the photos in this series feature the wax animals displayed in museums, such as the American Museum of Natural History. His most notable is a photograph of a wax polar bear on a fake ice floe. This work questions the validity of photographs, as people may assume that the polar bear is real until closer examination.
This sale of Sugimoto's work is a part of the Pier 24 Photography sale from the Pilara Family Foundation, one of the largest spaces in the world devoted to collecting, preserving, and exhibiting photography. The collection is estimated to sell for $400,000-$600,000 and proceeds from the auction will be used to support the foundation's philanthropic mission.
To register, please visit sothebys.com.
You Might Also Like
