As They Were: American Masters Through the Lens of James Salter

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As They Were: American Masters Through the Lens of James Salter

Seen now for the first time in 2012, these intimate and penetrating portraits by the distinguished author of A Sport and a Pastime and Light Years were made in 1962 and 63 when Salter was working as a documentary filmmaker. Known primarily for his novels and prize-winning short stories, Salter’s early interest in film led to a secondary career in Hollywood where he wrote a number of movies, among them Downhill Racer, Three, and The Appointment. Michael Dirda writes of Salter, ”He can, when he wants, break your heart with a sentence.” A similar power and poetic vision exists in thes e black-and-white photographs. The artists are shot in their studios, at work on pictures that are now considered masterpieces of the era. Warhol, fresh-faced and boyish, before frightwigs, shades, and downtown cool; Rauschenberg, handsome, serious, and intent, with a glass of vodka not far away; Rivers, the famous profile, glamorous as a movie-star himself. James Salter’s life had been, almost from the beginning, outsized and not easy to classify. He graduated from West Point, served as a fighter pilot in the Korean War flying over 100 missions, wrote movies in Hollywood, and holds a place in American literature as one of the most respected novelists of our time. These photographs, which add another stripe to Salter’s sleeve, have been paired with paintings of each of the artist-subjects, providing a narrative view of process and product, keeping, as Robert Rauschenberg once said, ”history and love alive.”




Claes Oldenburg 1963 Gelatin silver print 16 x 20 Inches Edition of 12


Robert Rauschenberg 1963 Gelatin silver print 16 x 20 Inches Edition of 12


Larry Rivers 1963 Gelatin silver print 16 x 20 Inches Edition of 12


Andy Warhol 1963 Gelatin silver print 16 x 20 Inches Edition of 12





Claes Oldenburg Ice Cream Display 1964 Pigment on plaster over wire mesh 16 x 9.5 x 5 inches


Claes Oldenburg Ouefs Vulcania 1964 Plaster, painted with tempera on plate 4.5 x 11.25 x 11.25 inches


Claes Oldenburg Banana Split I (Paris) 1964 Watercolor and crayon on paper 12.25 x 17.5 inches




Robert Rauschenberg Untited 1979 Solvent transfer and fabric collaged on paper 23 x 31.5 inches


Robert Rauschenberg Switchboard (from Airport Series) 1974 Relief and intaglio on fabric with pencil appendage 34.5 x 36.5 x 7.5 inches Edition AP of 20


Robert Rauschenberg Guide (Rigs) 1978 Solvent transfer and collage on paper 23.75 x 52 inches



Robert Rauschenberg Narcissus/ ROCI USA (Wax Fire Works) 1990 Acrylic, enamel, and fire wax on stainless steel 96.75 x 72.75 inches Edition 16/22





Larry Rivers Berdie 1953 Pencil on paper 7.875 x 9.5 inches


Larry Rivers Webster in a Square 1961 Oil on panel 13.75 x 17 inches


Larry Rivers O’Hara Reclining 1956 Pencil on paper 19.75 x 20.5 inches


Larry Rivers Lions on the Dreyfus Fund V 1964 Drawing and collage on paper Paper: 13 x 16 inches Framed: 20 x 23 inches


Larry Rivers Three Heads c. 1954 Oil on canvas 8.25 x 9.5 inches


Larry Rivers Cooper’s Hawk and Clock 1956 Pencil on paper 14 x 16.25 inches


Larry Rivers BIRDIE 1954 Sculpturecast resin 9.8 x 9.5 x 6.3 inches





Andy Warhol Mapplethorpe 1983 unique screenprint on lenox museum board 39.5 x 38.5 inches Edition unique


Andy Warhol Marilyn 30 1967 Screenprint 36 x 36 inches Edition of 250


Andy Warhol Jacqueline Kennedy II (Jackie II) 1966 Silkscreen on paper 24 x 30 inches Edition 18 of 200


Andy Warhol S&H Greenstamps 1965 Offset Lithograph 22.5 x 22.5 inches


Special thanks to James Salter, Bill Benton and Bill Maynes.

525-531 West 26th Street New York, NY 10001 gallery@lorettahoward.com 212 695-0164

358 West 20th Street New York, NY 10001 gallery@nyehaus.com 212 366-4493




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