“On my first trip to Iraq, I would take tons of pictures to keep up the morale and to send back to friends and family. I had everything backed up to a hard drive and I lost (crashed) that hard drive, which was very hurtful because I had pictures of family members that are deceased. I realized the only thing I could do was document life in the present.” — Michael McCoy
“Always take yourself seriously… it’s not the same as being pompous, or overly self-assured, but it is important to understand that the small little ideas that creep up in your mind, often contain the germ of a much larger project. All great art wasn’t born as great art. It first needed to be recognized by the artist him/herself. Through his or her belief in it, it became true.” — Wolfgang Tillmans
Wolfgang Tillmans (b.1968) Wäscheberg inkjet print mounted on aluminum, in artist’s frame sheet: 36 ½ x 29 ½ in. Price Realised USD 17,500
This is a picture I took of Namego Valley, deep in the mountains of Nara Prefecture. This place is located in a very remote location and is called one of the most beautiful spots in Japan by those in the know. There are deciduous forests along the dark green coniferous mountain ridges, and during the fall foliage season, the scenery looks like a dragon ascending to the heavens. This view, which appears quietly only during the few days of the best-conditioned fall season every year, is truly a beautiful art created by nature.
“An original is a creation motivated by desire. Any reproduction of an original is motivated by necessity. The original is the result of an automatic process, the reproduction, of a mechanical process. In other words: Inspiration then information; each validates the other. All other considerations are beyond the scope of these statements. It is marvelous that we are the only species that creates gratuitous forms. To create is divine, to reproduce is human.” — Man Ray
Man Ray (1890-1976) Portrait of Kiki 1923 Oil on canvas 24 1/8 x 18 in. Price realised USD 1,623,000
