Peter Beard

a unique oversized object, comprising Diary Pages of Marilyn Monroe and Dead Elephant Images, with blood and ink and extensively collaged with bird feathers, snakeskin, Winston and Jumbo cigarette packs, as well as many images, including photographs and reproductions from books, magazines, and newspapers, in a driftwood frame made to the photographer's specifications, with the Stress and Density exhibition stamp and labels on the reverse, 1971-72, created 1997-98; accompanied by the Stress & Density exhibition poster from the 1997 Berlin exhibition (2)

Acquired from The Time Is Always Now, New York, circa 1997-98

Berlin, Camera Work Galerie, Stress & Density, October - December 1998

Peter Beard: Fifty Years of Portraits (Santa Fe, 1999), pp. 404-5 (this print)

Another unique variant of this diary page:

Stress & Density (KunstHausWien, 1999), p. 122

As is typical of most of Peter Beard's large works, there is some waviness in this assemblage from the sheer weight of the work, due to its size. Because of its size, it has not been removed from the frame but appears to be in generally good condition. The image of Marilyn Monroe appears to have undergone a tonal shift and is warm-toned. On the back of the frame are the Stress & Density exhibition stamp and two The Time Is Always Now, New York, gallery labels--the letterpress gallery label and printed information label, with Renny Harlin Collection listed. This ambitious work has extensive collaging, and we have attempted to be as thorough as possible in noting the following: Three-dimensional: carcass of bird feathers; cigarette packages; snakeskin, bloody rags; leaf In addition to the aerial grid of images of dead elephants on the right side of the diary page, there are many (about 14) individual images of dead elephants collaged throughout the work. 14 Diary page spreads, including July 25, 1996 of Jacqueline Kennedy and her children; March 5, 1978 of Elizabeth Taylor and Francis Bacon portraits of Peter Beard; diary page about London; March 2-3, 1984; diary page with insect and crocodiles; diary pages annotated 'Cannes'; January 14 (no year visible) diary page with Jackie Kennedy 'Before and After' and she-crab soup label and text about snow, P. J. Clarke's, Luchow's, and an 'all-nighter'; January 4-5, 1984 diary pages resting on colorful rocks; September 20-21 (no year visible) with images relating to JFK assassination and text references to Montauk and dinner at Shagwong Tavern; June 15-16, 1973, with Capt. Edward Brodno, J. Edgar Hoover, partially nude women, dinosaur and comics; January 1984 diary page with Marilyn Monroe and Iman; September 25 (no year given) diary page with Man kayaking and textual references to Paris; October 13 (no year given) diary page with woman on toilet; October 22 diary page (no year given). Several images of some of Peter Beard's best-known works, including: Nor Dread No Hope Attend (airplane shadow over elephant bones) Janice Dickinson Orphaned Cheetah Cubs Picasso Poetic Reconstruction of the Peace Corpse Catastrophe (self-portrait with crocodile in mud) Donyale Luna, Montauk Fayel Tall Francis Bacon in His Studio Cobra Men in Truck, 'Donya Sabuk, Sisal Estate, Hoppo Meat Truck, 1960 Elephant Embryo in Jar Wounded lioness at Mgarari, Lariak Estate/P.O. box Rumuruti Kenya, E.A./For the end of the game 150-160-lber bull elephant in Tsavo North near Ithumba (& hunting block 33)- Kenya Waterbuck Family I'll Write Whenever I Can There are many black and white and color images from Africa, both past and current, including various of big game hunters; oases; giraffe; presumed poacher holding giraffe's head aloft; hunters and dead rhinoceros; men with elephant tusks; dead Giraffe entrails and baby giraffe; giraffe legs; nude native woman; paints being used by native artist; famous image of Soweto; Kamante Gatura, 1983; two women and a dead zebra; 4 people lying on the ground; dead water buffalo; native on horseback; photo of Hog Ranch; bloody carcass on donkey's back; native man in headdress with 2 children; native at gravestone; man with dead hippo, holding mouth open; wart hogs; cameraman filming; woman with African man in toga; a camp; men with elephant tusks; woman on horseback. There are several images of Peter Beard: as a boy and as an adult with a toad on his head; running from a rhinoceros; reading in a hospital bed; bathing in a metal tub; portraits by Francis Bacon. Other images include: Marilyn Monroe with Karen Blixen; several color of model Eva Herzigova; hand holding watch against a tree; cover of graphic novel by Orrie Hitt titled 'Pushover,' with text 'Gloria - Madeline - Sandy! Each was Easy Pickins''; topless models in a car; 'End of the Game' book cover, 1977 edition; young boy with no arms or legs; various of models and women with Peter Beard works; circa 1920s of man on telephone; Asian model; unidentified portrait of man with mustache, circa early 1900s; woman in large tree; aerial of Gurney's Inn, Montauk; aerial of palatial modenist compound with tennis court, presumably on Long Island; circa 1910s of woman dancing; child's hand, presumably Zara Beard; room with Christmas tree, woman, and child; hand over Russian Tea Room logo. The 1998 exhibition poster is 44 3/4 by 24 3/4 inches and is in excellent condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The title for Stress & Density takes its name from Peter Beard's description of changes in Kenya since his first visit in 1955,

'. . . The beautiful play period has come to an end.  Millions of years of evolutionary processes have been destroyed in the blink of an eye.  The Pleistocene is paved over, cannibalism is replaced by the power, the prestige and the corruption of the international aid industry.  This is the "End of the Game" over and over.  what could possibly be next?  Density and stress, aid and AIDS, deep blue computers and Nintendo robots, heart disease and cancer, liposuction and rhinoplasty, digital pets and Tamaguchi toys have delivered to us the brave new world' (Stress & Density, p. 17).