David LaChapelle

untitled beach scene, 1987

1987

This is a vintage silver gelatin photo of either Stan Lee or John Romita (I believe it is Romita but I am not sure) overlayed with a comic strip in a surrealist style. John Romita is an American comic-book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man and for co-creating the character The Punisher. He was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2002. He graduated from Manhattan's School of Industrial Art in 1947, having attended for three years after spending ninth grade at a Brooklyn junior high school Among his instructors were book illustrator Howard Simon and magazine illustrator Ben Clements, and his influences included comics artists Noel Sickles, Roy Crane, Milton Caniff, and later, Alex Toth and Carmine Infantino, as well as commercial illustrators Jon Whitcomb, Coby Whitmore, and Al Parker. Romita entered the comics industry in 1949 on the series Famous Funnies. "Steven Douglas up there was a benefactor to all young artists", Romita recalled. "The first story he gave me was a love story. It was terrible. All the women looked like emaciated men and he bought it, never criticized, and told me to keep working. He paid me two hundred dollars for it and never published it — and rightfully so". Romita was working at the New York City company Forbes Lithograph in 1949, earning $30 a week, when comic-book inker Lester Zakarin, a friend from high school whom he ran into on a subway train, offered him either $17 or $20 a page to pencil a 10-page story for him as uncredited ghost artist. "I thought, this is ridiculous! In two pages I can make more money than I usually make all week! So I ghosted it and then kept on ghosting for him", Romita recalled. "I think it was a 1920s mobster crime story". The work was for Marvel's 1940s forerunner, Timely Comics, which helped give Romita an opportunity to meet editor-in-chief and art director Stan Lee. Romita ghost-penciled for Zakarin on Trojan Comics' Crime-Smashers and other titles, eventually signing some "Zakarin and Romita". Romita went on to draw a wide variety of horror comics, war comics, romance comics and other genres for Atlas. His most prominent work for the company was the short-lived 1950s revival of Timely's hit character Captain America, in Young Men #24–28 (Dec. 1953 – July 1954) and Captain America #76–78 (May–Sept. 1954).[21] Additionally, Romita would render one of his first original characters, M-11 the Human Robot, in a five-page standalone science-fiction story in Menace #11 (May 1954). While not envisioned as an ongoing character, M-11 was resurrected decades later as a member of the super-hero team Agents of Atlas. He was the primary artist for one of the first series with a black star, "Waku, Prince of the Bantu" — created by writer Don Rico and artist Ogden Whitney in the omnibus title Jungle Tales #1 (Sept. 1954). The ongoing short feature starred an African chieftain in Africa, with no regularly featured Caucasian characters. Romita succeeded Whitney with issue #2 (Nov. 1954). In the mid-1950s, while continuing to freelance for Atlas, Romita did uncredited work for DC Comics before transitioning to work for DC exclusively in 1958. "I was following the DC [house] style", he recalled in 2002. "Frequently they had another artist do the first page of my stories. Eventually I became their romance cover...

Rare vintage signed and dated silver gelatin black & white framed photograph. This photo is signed but I cannot make out the signature. It is from the aftermath of the six day war. Leonard Freed, Micha Bar Am, Henri Cartier-Bresson, David Rubinger...

Bruce Cratsley, American (1944-1998) Vintage gelatin silver print (Television) TV Head A surrealist image of a window mannequin man with a TV head. Hand signed, titled and dated 1987 verso image (each): 15 1/4 x 15 1/4 inches, matted to 24 X 20 inches Provenance: From the collection of AGFA Graphics Corporation David Bruce Cratsley (1944 - 1998) was an American photographer specialized in still lifes, portraits of friends, and life in New York City. He had a reputation of master of light and shadow. Bruce Cratsley attended Swarthmore College, graduating in 1966, and then, in the early 1970s, The New School for Social Research, studying under Lisette Model. Cratsley worked for many years as a gallerist at Marlborough Gallery before quitting in 1986 to become a full-time photographer. As "Bruce Cratsley", he exhibited in various New York galleries, like: Laurence Miller Gallery, Howard Greenberg Gallery and Witkin Gallery. Cratsley was represented by Yancey Richardson Gallery, a dealer of fine art photography based in SoHo. He was photographed by Elsa Dorfman who shot many luminaries including, Allen Ginsberg, Denise Levertov, Anaïs Nin and more. In 1978 Cratsley contributed the photo sequences for the musical The Class, performed by The New Ballet School at the New York City Center. In 1980, Cratsley showed his work, Atlantic City, 1977, an August beach scene, at the 11th Anniversary show at the Witkin Gallery. In 1989 Cratsley was awarded with the Guggenheim Fellowship for Photography, US Canada. Cratsley documented gay life in NYC including his life with David Waine, who died in 1991. "I'd been photographing David since long before he became sick [...] at some point I realized that this was an extraordinary thing that was happening, and that I had an intimate relationship to it. I photographed David just a few hours before he died, not knowing what was about to happen [...] David was very spiritual [...] My pictures are a poetic, spiritualized look at AIDS". In 1995 Cratsley was included together with Barbara Norfleet, Olivia Parker and John Sturges in the list of bestselling photographer at Robert Klein Gallery...

Bruce Cratsley, American (1944-1998) Vintage gelatin silver print A Renaissance face and shadow bench A surrealist image of a Sandro Botticelli sidewalk chalk drawing in a NYC park Hand signed, titled and dated 1989 verso image (each): 15 1/4 x 15 1/4 inches, matted to 24 X 20 inches Provenance: From the collection of AGFA Graphics Corporation David Bruce Cratsley (1944 - 1998) was an American photographer specialized in still lifes, portraits of friends, and life in New York City. He had a reputation of master of light and shadow. Bruce Cratsley attended Swarthmore College, graduating in 1966, and then, in the early 1970s, The New School for Social Research, studying under Lisette Model. Cratsley worked for many years as a gallerist at Marlborough Gallery before quitting in 1986 to become a full-time photographer. As "Bruce Cratsley", he exhibited in various New York galleries, like: Laurence Miller Gallery, Howard Greenberg Gallery and Witkin Gallery. Cratsley was represented by Yancey Richardson Gallery, a dealer of fine art photography based in SoHo. He was photographed by Elsa Dorfman who shot many luminaries including, Allen Ginsberg, Denise Levertov, Anaïs Nin and more. In 1978 Cratsley contributed the photo sequences for the musical The Class, performed by The New Ballet School at the New York City Center. In 1980, Cratsley showed his work, Atlantic City, 1977, an August beach scene, at the 11th Anniversary show at the Witkin Gallery. In 1989 Cratsley was awarded with the Guggenheim Fellowship for Photography, US Canada. Cratsley documented gay life in NYC including his life with David Waine, who died in 1991. "I'd been photographing David since long before he became sick [...] at some point I realized that this was an extraordinary thing that was happening, and that I had an intimate relationship to it. I photographed David just a few hours before he died, not knowing what was about to happen [...] David was very spiritual [...] My pictures are a poetic, spiritualized look at AIDS". In 1995 Cratsley was included together with Barbara Norfleet, Olivia Parker and John Sturges in the list of bestselling photographer at Robert Klein Gallery...