118 / 314
168
●
BRUCE BELLAS (BRUCE OF LA) (1909-1974)
A group of 127 physique photographs by the inimitable Bruce Bellas.
With 126 black-and-white
photographs of male athletic models posing, 69 of them collaged together in 11 separate groups;
and one color photograph. Silver prints and one chromogenic print, the images measuring 1x
3
/
4
to
7x5 inches (2.5x1.9 to 17.8x12.7 cm.), and the reverse, each with a Bruce or Bruce of Los Angeles
hand stamp, on verso. Circa 1960
[1,500/2,500]
169
●
BRUCE WEBER (1946- )
Calvin Klein Underwear bus stop poster.
Chromogenic
print on acetate, overall size measuring 67
1
/
4
x47
1
/
2
inches (170.75x120.75 cm.). 1983
[1,500/2,000]
BruceWeber’s photograph of Brazilian pole-vaulter
TomHintnaus originally appeared as a 70-foot high
billboard in NewYork City’s Times Square.This
image and the ad campaign had a seismic effect on
America’s social and cultural scene. “Weber’s
photographs are part of the phenomenon they
document . . . his advertising campaigns . . . have
come to stand for the acceptance of this imagery
by the cultural mainstream. For those who can
recall a time before it became acceptable for men
to regard their underwear as fashion statements,
Weber’s images must count among the most
revolutionary tools yet devised in the history of
consumer manipulation.Miniature dramas in which
men assume the passive role once assigned almost
exclusively to women, they have also been a force
for change in relations between the sexes”(Herbert
Muschamp,
NewYork Times Magazine
, November
14, 1999).
American Photographer Magazine
named
the photo one of the “10 Pictures that Changed
America.”
168
169