We have just announced the release of Pierre Apraxine‘s Mémoires d’un collectionneur.
On June 26, 2011, we published a tribute to Pierre by Sylvie Aubenas, director of the photo department of the Bibliothèque Nationale.
Here it is:
Pierre Apraxine is today a reference for photography collectors. His reputation in the field grew towards the end of the 1970’s when, as an advisor to the American industrialist Howard Gilman (1924-1998), he persuaded Gilman to add an ambitious selection of photographs to his other art collections. This new collection grew over the years beyond their wildest imagination. Their collaboration would last more than 20 years, allowing it to grow into one of the most interesting private collections of historic and contemporary photographs of its time, one that was an icon. It was displayed in 1993 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York under the title The Waking Dream. A selection of 40 prints that were also seen by the French public in 1998 at the Paris Photo fair. Since Howard Gilman’s death in 1998, Pierre Apraxine has been over seeing this unique collection as it made its transition into the Metropolitan Museum’s holdings.
