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Lot 65

Elliott Erwitt
(1928-2023)
'California' (Kiss)

7 – 17 July 2025, 12:00 EDT
Online, New York

Sold for US$6,144 inc. premium

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Elliott Erwitt (1928-2023)

'California' (Kiss), 1955
Gelatin silver print, printed later; signed in ink in the margin, signed, titled, and dated in pencil on the reverse.
11 3/4 x 17 1/2 in. (29.8 x 44.5 cm.)
sheet 15 7/8 x 19 7/8 in. (40.3 x 50.5 cm.)

Footnotes

Provenance
Acquired from the photographer by the present owner in 2003

Literature
Elliott Erwitt, Personal Exposures (New York, 1988), cover
Elliott Erwitt, Snaps (London, 2001), pp. 502-503
Elliott Erwitt, Elliott Erwitt: Personal Best (Kempen, 2009), p. 434

Note
In this astonishingly complex image, Elliott Erwitt captured the reflection of a newlywed couple in the side-view mirror of their car parked by the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. The photograph was published on 24 December 1956 in a special issue of LIFE magazine devoted to The American Woman, Her Achievements and Troubles. It stands as one of Erwitt's most beloved photographs of his long career.

Additional information

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