Incredible collections of great musicians. Hits of photography from elton john Pictures of Bob Dylan
On March 25, Sir Elton John, the legend of world music, turns 70 years old. In this regard, we recall the most interesting facts from the life of a brilliant musician.
Elton John (real name Reginald Kenneth Dwight) was born on March 25, 1947 in the British town of Pinner, in an ordinary family, and already in early childhood he showed his unique abilities.
- He was a child prodigy. Already at the age of 4, little Reggie could play any melody on the piano. By this, he delighted his mother Sheila, but his father, a trumpeter of a military band, was not pleased with his son's success, he did not want his son to follow in his footsteps.
- Usually people put on glasses after their vision deteriorates. With Elton John, everything happened exactly the opposite. At 13, he started wearing glasses to look like the American singer Buddy Holly. Because of this, the boy developed myopia, and glasses became an urgent need.
- He was included in the ranking of the most extravagant women. In this rating, compiled by fashion critic Mr. Blackwell, Elton appeared because of his love for outrageous outfits, in which he performed at the dawn of his career. They say that the singer still has not forgiven Blackwell for this trick. As for the costumes, in 1988 Elton sold them at auction along with his collection of music records. Revenue amounted to 20 million dollars!
- Elton John is an avid collector. He collects cars, photographs, music recordings, his stage costumes... But the most extravagant is his eyewear collection, which has over 250,000 pieces. Among them come across very unusual, for example, glasses with brushes, "wipers". The singer treats his collection with great trepidation: in 2013, having arrived on tour in Brazil, Elton ordered a separate hotel room for his glasses!
- He was friends with Princess Diana. For many years, he and the princess had sincere friendships. By talking about Elton and his partner David Furnish to her sons, Diana taught them to respect same-sex love. At the funeral of Princess Elton John performed the song "Candle in the Wind", which was later included in the Guinness Book of Records as the best-selling single.
- Elton John is a knight. On February 24, 1998, he received a knighthood from the British Queen.
- Elton John is an AIDS fighter. He believes that it was a miracle he did not contract this disease, because in the 1980s many gay men became victims of HIV. Then the disease had just appeared, and no one even guessed what terrible consequences unprotected sexual contacts were fraught with. A close friend of the musician, Freddie Mercury, died of AIDS. After his death, John began an active fight against the disease. He founded a charitable foundation, where he constantly transfers huge amounts of money.
- He is married and has two children. Elton John does not hide the fact that he is a homosexual. He has been in a relationship with his partner David Furnish since 1993. In 2005, immediately after same-sex marriage was legalized in the UK, the couple formalized their union. In 2010, their eldest son, Zacharias, was born, and in 2013, their youngest, Elijah. Both children were carried by surrogate mothers.
- In addition to relatives, Elton John has 10 more godchildren, including the sons of John Lennon, David Beckham and Elizabeth Hurley. And the godmother of Elton's children is Lady Gaga!
- Elton John has his own coat of arms. It depicts piano keys, vinyl records and CDs. A satyr is placed at the very top of the coat of arms, playing a wind instrument and holding a ball with his hoof. He probably personifies John's predilection for a fun, wild life and his passion for football. Once he even said:
- He loves his birthdays! With age, this holiday becomes less and less beloved, reminiscent of the waning youth, but Elton John belongs to that rare type of people who sincerely rejoice at another year lived:
"Football is the best cure for alcoholism"
“There are people who do not like birthdays, do not want to remember them and celebrate, but I have always liked this day. Seventy sounds archaic, doesn't it? While I was growing up, this figure was associated with the end of the world, but everything has changed. You are as old as you feel…”
Happy birthday, Elton!
With the help of his extraordinarily huge fortune, Elton John has become one of the greatest collectors of our time. But to everyone's surprise, his collectibles are not paintings and other works of art, but cars, hats, houses and glasses. Elton John - "Best Glasses Man in the United Kingdom" - the owner of a fantastic collection of glasses.
Sir Elton John is certainly a man who needs no introduction. His legacy is a constant struggle with trials, unforgettable moments, stunning highs and no less significant falls, and yet everything that happened to him proves his legendary status.
Over the course of several decades, variety shows have made Elton John one of the most popular and significant personalities in history. Sir Elton John is firmly on par with the likes of Paul McCartney and Frank Sinatra, but with an amazing difference that belongs only to him - it's amazing talent and charisma.
Elton John has been wearing glasses since the age of 13, he so wanted to be like the famous star, and this is what ruined John's eyesight. At that distant time, when the range of eyeglass frames was very scarce. There was an opportunity to choose a frame of only 2 maximum 3 options: glasses that were tortoiseshell or ordinary round, which, most likely, became the primary reason for collecting glasses.
Over the years, he has brought to life a large number of different styles, Elton John managed to become one of the most special in the distant 70s, at a time when sunglasses were one of the most popular accessories.
Throughout his career, Elton John has amassed a huge collection of these sunglasses. Some exhibits of this collection are more than 60 years old today, but they are all very bright, beautiful and original.
Elton John always loved experiments with his images, some were successful, some were not ... But he was always faithful to only one accessory - these are glasses. The collection of glasses is really huge: from the most refined and "a little crazy" to the classic. Today, he is very well versed in vintage eyewear collections and always follows the appearance of new products, some of which become copies of his collection.
Elton John's glasses are so different: large and small, with colored lenses, frames of various colors and intricate shapes. All his glasses are an integral part of his image.
Once, Elton John confessed that he had acquired 20 thousand pairs of glasses over the years, including glasses with wipers, like on the windshield of a car.
Sir Elton John is one of those people who doesn't need to be introduced. Undoubted talent, stunning ups and downs, the constant need to deal with trials - all this reliably supports his highest status.
Elton John is not only an outstanding musician. A huge fortune helped him become one of the largest collectors of our time. At the same time, Elton collects by no means works of art, which, it would seem, is more appropriate for an artist. No, he prefers to collect real estate, cars, hats and glasses. For the fact that Elton John was able to collect a fantastic collection of these accessories, he was nicknamed "The best bespectacled man in the United Kingdom."
While still a teenager, Elton began to wear glasses. Everything was fine with his vision then, he just really wanted to become like his favorite musician Buddy Holly, a rock and roll star. Of course, glasses with diopters ruined the 13-year-old boy's eyesight. However, this did not upset Elton: he rightly believed that wearing a variety of frames would help him, like Buddy Holly, become memorable. True, then, in the now distant 60s, there was a serious problem. Namely - a meager assortment of frames for glasses. You could only find tortoiseshell glasses and classic round ones, like John Lennon's. That, in fact, is all.
But the 70s came, when sunglasses were one of the most popular accessories, and Elton John managed to become one of the most special performers. Since then, he has constantly kept on the same level with such "whales" as Frank Sinatra and Sir Paul McCartney, not inferior to them in charisma and talent.
Over the past decades, Elton John has managed to collect a colossal collection of a wide variety of sunglasses. And all of them, even the oldest models, which are now more than half a century old, are original, bright and beautiful. Elton has always loved to experiment with his image, but he certainly remained faithful to the glasses. In his collection there are timeless classics, and "a little crazy", and very sophisticated models of glasses. Now an ardent fan of these accessories is well versed in vintage glasses and does not get tired of following the appearance of new products.
According to the collector himself, over the years he has acquired at least 20,000 pairs of glasses. They are of various shapes, sizes and colors. Many copies were donated by friends and fans of the extravagant musician. According to his fans, there is a separate room in Elton John's house for his glasses collection. Each copy of this collection is unique. They say that Elton even has glasses with “wipers” in case of rain, like on a car windshield.
The musician does not part with his favorite glasses even on concert tours, because they are an integral part of the stage image. His riders invariably contain a clause about a separate room with a certain temperature, especially for storing glasses. And the organizers of the concerts do not see anything strange in such requirements.
1 /5 AP Photo/Frank Augstein
The art gallery, museum and auction house will bring together works of art from the collections of three iconic rock stars - including their own work.
What can be found in a rock star's art collection? Turns out it has nothing to do with music.
London discusses three exhibitions and auctions related to pop culture stars. The Tate Contemporary Gallery this week will present a modernist collection of photographs by Elton John, the best of about 8,000 works. Nearby, at Sotheby's, David Bowie's sumptuous art and design collection is on display; today, November 10, a three-stage auction will begin, in which part of this collection will go under the hammer. Meanwhile, the Halcyon Gallery offers about 200 original works by Bob Dylan (he himself has not yet honored the vernissage with his presence).
Pop culture-influenced shows and celebrity-related exhibits are becoming an increasingly powerful tool for museums to help them draw crowds, attract younger audiences, and build social media reputations. And with such bright stars, the art centers of London can hope for good results. In 2008, the first exhibition of Dylan's work at Halcyon attracted over 75,000 visitors. This year, the gallery hopes to get between 70,000 and 90,000 people this year. The contemporary Tate has dedicated much of the second floor of its new wing to the Elton John collection; The exhibition, titled "Radical Eye", will run until the beginning of May. Following a series of tours, Sotheby's has released a pre-sale estimate for the Bowie collection of £9.8 million to £14.3 million ($12 million to $17.8 million).
Exhibitions often become revelations. The Bowie Collection at Sotheby's, where the musician's songs are played in the halls, is "incredibly diverse and incredibly eclectic," says Simon Hacker, the auction house's senior specialist in contemporary British art. Among more than 350 works, there are many works by the most important British artists of the 20th century, including Frank Auerbach, Peter Lanyon and Harold Gilman. But there are also surprises: for example, a spin-art canvas that Bowie painted with Damien Hirst, a Tintoretto altarpiece depicting St. Catherine, or stylish post-modern furniture from the 80s by the Memphis Group.
In this collection, "there is no hierarchy between items that cost millions or hundreds of pounds," Hacker says. “Instead, you get intellectual curiosity, humor, no boundaries, and an interest in everything.”
David Bowie Art Collection
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Installation of 1980s furniture collection by postmodern design firm Memphis Group
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The Power of the Air, Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1984 The cost of the main Sotheby's lot is estimated in the range from 2.5 million to 3.5 million pounds.
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"Mendica", Francis Picabia
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Family, Henry Moore, 1944
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Head of Gerda Behm, Frank Auerbach, 1965
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Bowie and Damien Hirst's colorful spin-art painting Beautiful, hallo, space-boy painting, 1995
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"Interior (Mrs. Mounter)", Harold Gilman, 1917
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Witness, Peter Lanyon, 1961
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"Sunrise in the mountains, Picos de Asturias" David Bomberg, 1935
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"Foyer", Patrick Caulfield, 1973
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"Side Lying Drawing (version 3)", Kenneth Armitage, 1957
Bowie, who passed away in early January, often turned to pieces that embodied the British identity, says Keith Chertavian, who curated the artist's collection from 1992 to 2000. She believes that in works like John Bellan's Fisherman in the Snow, a bleak 1965 depiction of a fishing village that Bowie acquired in 1993, Bowie was looking for something: "It was like he was trying to find himself in these works."
Art has a deep personal meaning for Elton John as well. The musician began to collect his collection in 1990, after a stay in a rehabilitation center, where he was treated for drug addiction. At the same time, he visited a photography festival in France and was amazed by the work of Horst P. Horst and Irwin Penn. He immediately bought 12 photos. In an interview included in the exhibition catalogue, he says: “Acquisition of photographs is a much healthier form of addiction. This passion went hand in hand with my newfound sobriety, which also felt like a breath of freshness and freedom.
Elton John photography collection
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Man Ray, Tears of Glass, 1932
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Edward Steichen, Bee in a Sunflower, 1920
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Herbert Bayer, self-portrait, 1932
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Ilse Bing, Dancer, Willem van Loon, Paris, 1932
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Margaret Burke-White, George Washington Bridge, 1933
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Dorothea Lange, Mother of the Settlers, 1936
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Edward Weston Nude, 1936
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Walker Evans, Christ or Chaos?, 1946
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Irving Penn, Salvador Dali, New York, 1947
Works from the Elton John collection on display at the Tate Modern include famous black and white photographs from the first half of the 20th century.
The highlights of the exhibit are masterpieces by Man Ray (eg Tears of Glass), Edward Weston and Dorothea Lange, whose 1936 Settler Mother hangs in the Social Documentary section. Another important element of the exhibition is a series of so-called "corner portraits" by Irving Penn, which depict Salvador Dali, Duke Ellington and Noel Coward, literally squeezed into a corner. The musician and his husband David Furnish are members of the Tate International Council.
Elton John himself, who was captured on film by Irvin Penn and Richard Avedon, says that he is afraid of the camera and does not take pictures himself. However, he adds:
“At the same time, I feel very comfortable around people who know how to photograph me correctly. There is a difference: there are those who take pictures, and there are those who know how to take pictures.”
Halcyon Gallery hosted not a collection, but paintings, drawings and metalwork created by Bob Dylan himself. Like many rockers who make their own visual arts, including John Mellencamp and Patti Smith, Dylan found an alternative creative outlet for his sorrows. Particularly noticeable in his work is "a fascination with typically American landscapes, railroads and vast empty spaces," says British music historian Clinton Heylin, author of several books about Dylan.
A prominent feature of the exhibition titled "The Beaten Path" is a large landscape depicting an empty road and mountains in the distance, titled "Endless Highway 1", which was completed last year. But there are also more mundane scenes: a diner in Tennessee, a motel in Florida, an unnamed donut shop. In the introduction to the exhibition catalogue, Dylan describes an unusual feature of his creative process.
“I have kept to the traditional approach and try not to consider anything small or tasteless. A simple hot dog stand can reveal classic features, and I'll look at it that way."
Bob Dylan paintings
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It is well known that Elton John collects eccentric sunglasses, but few people know that he collects photographs. His collection, which has been going on for a quarter of a century, includes about 8,000 rare photographs - from 1910 to the present.
Elton John, 70s, Photo: BBC
Until May 7, 2017 at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art London Tate Modern, which presents a collection of British art from 1500 to the present, will host an exhibition "A Radical View: Modernist Photography from the Elton John Collection".
The exhibition features 191 works by famous photographers, including André Kertesz, Edward Steichen, Irving Penn, Dorothea Lange and many others.
Elton John began collecting photographs in 1990, shortly after leaving alcohol rehab. While staying with friends in the south of France, he attended a photography festival.
"Before, I never noticed photography as an art form. And now I looked at them and thought - oh my God, this is so beautiful! That day I bought 12 pieces at once on the spot" Elton John recalls. “The early 90s was the best time to buy. Photos were very underrated back then."
He began buying early photographs from the 20th century, including some he remembered from childhood. In 1993, he paid $193,895 for Man Ray's "Tears of Glass" (1932), the most expensive photograph ever sold at auction at the time. In total, the exhibition features 25 works by Man Ray.
Photo: Man Ray "Tears of Glass" (1932)
The "Radical View" exhibition can be described as a crash course in photography: it includes the work of almost all the iconic photographers of the 20th century, it presents works by topic, not in chronological order. Most of the photographs in gilded, silver plated or painted wood frames, taken for Mr. John in Atlanta (USA), where he has a home.
The exhibition begins with portraits of Man Ray: Pablo Picasso, Constantin Brancusi, and the surrealist poet André Breton. There are also "corner portraits" by Irvine Penn, in which famous figures such as Spencer Tracy, Joe Louis, Duke Ellington and Salvador Dalí were photographed squeezed into the corner of the room. Below you can see the work Paul Strand “Wall Street, New York”(1915) and Dorothea Lange "Migrant Mother"(1936).
Photo: Dorothea Lange “Migrant Mother” (1936)
But the exhibition also features lesser-known works - Werner Mantz's Spiral Staircase, 1928, and the surreal still lifes of Josef Breitenbach.
There are works with a very interesting history. A miniature photograph of André Kertesz "Underwater Swimmer" - the first contact print made by a photographer in 1917. And Herbert Bayer's "Humanly Impossible (self-portrait)" photomontage from 1932 is the first painted print of the work from which all subsequent copies have been made.
Photo: André Kertesz “Underwater Swimmer” 1917
Photo: Hebert Bayer, “Humanly Impossible (self-portrait)” 1932
“The Elton John collection shows that he was very uncompromising in his choice of photographs and sought out those masterpieces that you are in awe of looking at,” says the head of the photography collection of the National Gallery in London.