Los 4162

Horst P. Horst
(1906-1999)Mainbocher Corset, Paris, August 11, 1939

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Aus dem Katalog
Fotografie des 19. – 21. Jahrhunderts (Katalog nur online verfügbar)
Auktionsdatum 29.11.2025

Mainbocher Corset, Paris, August 11, 1939. Gelatin silver print, printed later. 50,5 x 40,3 cm. With the photographer’s blind stamp below the image on recto; signed, titled, and dated in pencil on the verso, mounted to mat.

Taken in Paris on the eve of World War II, Mainbocher Corset (August 11, 1939) remains one of the most iconic images in the history of fashion photography. Commissioned by French Vogue, the photograph shows the back of a model adjusting a satin corset by Mainbocher, rendered in luminous chiaroscuro that recalls classical sculpture. With its perfect balance of form and shadow, sensuality and restraint, the image transcended its commercial origins to become a lasting symbol of poise and vulnerability. Widely reproduced in books and exhibitions, it endures as a defining work of 20th-century photography - elegant, enigmatic, and forever marked by the fragility of its moment. – Some buckling along the edges of print, otherwise in near excellent condition.

Provenance: Camera Work Gallery, Berlin; acquired from the above by the present owner.

Lit.: Nancy Hall-Duncan. The History of Fashion Photography. New York: Alpine Book Company, 1979, ill. p. 65.
Valentine Lawford. Horst: His Work and His World. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984, ill. p. 184.
Martin Kazmaier, ed. Horst: Sixty Years of Photography. London: Thames & Hudson, 1996, ill. pl. 8.