Lot 50: JUMONJI BISHIN (b.1947)

JUMONJI BISHIN (b.1947)
Kubinashi [Headless], 1971
gelatin silver print
signed in Japanese in pencil on verso
8 x 8in. (20.5 x 20.5cm.)

Camera Mainichi 20th Anniversary Issue -- 100 Photographers: Profiles & Works, December 1973, p.219.

Gift of the artist to editor of Camera Mainichi 20th Anniversary Issue, 1973; via agent; acquired by present owner.

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium
The present lot is one of only a few vintage prints made of this image. One other known print is in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

This is the actual print reproduced in the 20th anniversary issue of Camera Mainichi (1973) and gifted by Jumonji to the editor. For this special volume, 100 contemporary photographers were asked to select one photograph from their own body of work. Jumonji chose this striking image of a 'headless' man holding a cigar. Inspired by a repeated dream of a mysterious 'headless' man, Jumonji embarked on this series -- his first as an independent photographer -- in 1971 at the age of 24. By creating 'headless' portraits, he invites us to use our own imagination to construct the identity of the sitters.

Four works from the Headless series, including this image, were shown at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in the seminal 1974 exhibition New Japanese Photography, curated by John Szarkowski and Yamagishi Shoji, and received much acclaim (fig.1). At the opening reception, Richard Avedon praised Jumonji for his unique vision.