ART KANE
Art Kane (1925 - 1995) was one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century. A bold visionary, Kane’s work encompassed fashion, editorial, celebrity portraiture, travel, and nudes with a relentless and innovative eye.
Staff Picks
The Who under a Union Jack flag, 1968 by Art Kane
Shot in 1968 in NYC in Morningside Park near Columbia University, Art Kane had plenty of fun with The Who. Kane described them as “cute little ruffians, they made me think of Dickens, of Fagin’s gang from Oliver Twist.” Knowing that Pete Townshend and John Entwistle wore jackets made from the British flag, Art Kane decided to literally enrobe the band in the Union Jack, 2 actually, sewn together specially for the shoot. He wanted to portray them as “lovable in a devilish way”.
Kane instructed them to pretend to be asleep at the base of the Karl Schurz monument. He saw the image as an homage to a Henri Cartier-Bresson photograph of avagrant asleep in London’s Trafalgar Square.
Originally photographed in 1968 for Art Kane’s legendary Life Magazine photo essay ‘The New Rock’, it was later used by The Who for the soundtrack album cover and publicity posters for their 1978 movie ‘The Kids Are Alright’
The Rolling Stones, taken in 1966 by Art Kane
Originally photographed in London by Art Kane for McCall’s Magazine’s 1966 photo essay‘ Teen Idols’, Kane lay on his back and had the band circle him from above, looking down, a nod to the ‘Rolling’ part of their name. The pose has been recreated again and again by other photographers and bands, notably by Jim Marshall and The Jefferson Airplane who did theirs a year after Kane created his image with the Stones.
The most famous photograph in Jazz?
Entirely possible, and considered as such by jazz and photography fans and scholars alike. Shot for Esquire Magazine in August 1958 , it was Art Kane’s first major assignment as a photographer. Kane pitched the idea of a huge group portrait to be shot on location in Harlem. No one knew, with the early call hour of 10:00 am whether anyone would show up, but they did. 58 legendary giants of jazz including Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Mary Lou Williams, Horace Silver, Gene Krupa, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins and more and more and more. The global impact of this image cannot b underestimated.
It’s the subject of an Academy Award nominated documentary ‘A Great Day In Harlem’, it’s been recreated in homage dozens of times with Hip Hop artists, jazz, rock, blues, klezmer, classical musicians and more, it’s the subject of 2 award winning children’s books, and. was the ultimate plot point of Steven Spielberg’s movie ‘The Terminal’ starring Tom Hanks.
Available in two sizes, 16×20” and 30×40”
ART KANE Print Information
Limited edition, fine art prints of Art Kane photographs are created from Kane's original negatives and transparencies and have been scanned on a high performance Heidelberg drum scanner with a maximum optical resolution of 19,200 dpi. The Digital C-Type photograph is made by LI Digital Inc., NYC, a specialist in fine art photographic printing. The 16” x 20” and larger sizes are made on an Epson Fine Art Printer using Epson Premium Luster Archival Photo Paper. The photographs include an official Art Kane Estate document that is stamped, dated, edition numbered, and countersigned for authenticity by Jonathan Kane, Art Kane's son and Director of the Art Kane Archive. The document is created on archival crack and peel paper and can be placed on the verso of the image, or on the back of the frame at the client's discretion
Size information on each product page.
NOTE: Measurements quoted are paper size, with the printed image being slightly smaller to create a natural border to house the photographer’s signature and edition number