Study in Red by William Eggleston

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Throughout the twentieth century, the history of painting is a long research on color. The subject is vanishing, abstraction and abstract expressionism are dominating.

In 1973, the young American photographer William Eggleston decided that photography should follow the same trend. He selected the best color process at the time, the dye transfer, and set to work.

The photograph entitled "Greenwood, Mississippi" or "The Red Ceiling" is his first masterpiece. The subject is miserable: a ceiling and a wall corner with a bare light bulb. Eggleston achieves here a technical feat: the red blood color is spreading over the entire area, streaked with the white flashes of electric wiring.

The artist declared twenty years later that he had never seen a reproduction of this image which met his satisfaction (quoted both by Wikipedia and by the Christie's catalog). Only his dye transfers provide the desired result, namely the shocking effect created by the power of the wet blood color.

The arrival of one of his original prints, 30 x 46 cm, to be sold at Christie's in New York on October 8 is an artistic event that justifies an estimate of $ 150K.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Interesting result for this pioneering work: 158 K$ including premium.

Link to the picture, shared by Artdaily.