Bettie Kline

Richard Prince
Bettie Kline

Photographs: Richard Prince

Publisher: Gagosian Gallery

62 pages

Year: 2009

Comments: Hardcover, 362 x 283 mm. First edition, 2009. Text in english. Minor wear. In very good condition. Included in The Photobook by Parr & Badger, vol.3, p.292. Scarce book now out of print ! Collectible.

Irving Klaw's studio was on East 14th Street in New York City. 212 East 14th Street, to be exact. The same address where Franz Kline lived and worked. Klaw, along with his sister Paula, produced pin-up, nudie, and bondage photos. He worked with dozens of models ; but his most famous, Bettie Page, paid the rent. The Klaws and Kline were friends, and Kline would sometimes use Irvings 'models' for figure studies. Head over heels can probably describe Kline's feelings for Bettie Page. By 1952, she became his 'only': his subject, his sign, his muse. Working directly from life, Kline produced hundreds of pen and ink sketches of Bettie. The artist/model was secret. Nobody knew.

The photobook juxtaposes appropriated images of Bettie Page with paintings and drawings by Franz Kline.