Peter Beard

a unique assemblage of a Polaroid of Marilyn Monroe Diary Page with blood and red paint; a gelatin silver print of '756 Elephants @ Mkomazi Border of Tsavo,' initialed, titled, dated, and annotated 'P. B. w/Ian Parker' in the margin and collaged with six images of elephant bones; and a contact sheet signed and annotated in ink on the image and with a segment of a fishbone affixed to the image, framed, 1976, probably assembled later

Gift of the photographer

Private collection, Montauk

Acquired from the above

This unique assemblage has not been viewed out of its frame. The work consists of three prints of varying sizes centered on top of each other. The underlying print is a contact sheet of enlarged frames of elephant skeletons, affixed at intervals to what appears to be a black linen-covered board. Its edges are rubbed, corners bumped, and several handling creases are apparent. The edges are curling very slightly upward. It has been annotated, with a limerick on the image, as follows: 'There once was a little orphan ele who had trouble in filling his belly. With the absence of rain, He quite soon became . . . A PARTICULARLY SMELLY ELE SKELE. Peter Beard.' The fish bone segment is affixed on the upper left image of the contact sheet. The middle photograph, a 6 1/2-by-8 3/4-inch gelatin silver print, has been titled '756 eles @ Mkomazi Border of TSAVO, 1976 (P. B. w/Ian Parker)' in black ink in the margin, which is bordered on both sides by black lines. Six tiny collages of elephant skeletons are randomly affixed near the edges of the larger print. This middle print is lifting slightly from the underlying print at its corners. The top photograph, a small Polaroid of the 'Marilyn Monroe Heart Attack City Diary Page,' has been placed in the center. It is wavy, likely from the significant amount of blood and red paint that has been used to embellish its edges. Craquelure is present in the areas where the blood was thickly applied. The ink annotation on the South Lake Framing Company, Montauk, label on the reverse of the frame reads: 'Honduras Mahogany, Moldy Oak Filet . . .9/2005.'
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