Auction house Christie’s announced a collaboration with Saint Laurent to celebrate the reissue of SEX – the iconic 1992 photography book by Madonna and Steven Meisel. Christie’s will present Madonna x Meisel – The SEX Photographs, an auction of over 40 works, as editions of one, in a live sale taking place in New York on October 6, 2023.
Ahead of the auction a selection of photographs will be shown in London (from May 23 to June 2) and in Paris (from June 27 to July 6).
Upon its release in 1992, the photo book became a controversial cultural sensation. Meisel’s photographs of Madonna that blur the lines between fashion photography and softcore fantasy are accompanied with writing from the star herself, but written through the assumed alter ego of “Mistress Dita,” inspired by 1930s film actress Dita Parlo. The finished book was bound between aluminum sheets and came wrapped in sealed plastic. Though Madonna’s publishers were apprehensive about the book’s potential for controversy and didn’t expect it to sell well, in a matter of days SEX went on to sell more than 1.5 million copies worldwide and remains the best and fastest-selling coffee table book. It also remains as one of the most in-demand out-of-print publications of all time.
In 2022, Madonna teamed up with Saint Laurent’s creative director Anthony Vaccarello to mark the 30th anniversary with a first ever re-edition of the book, with 800 limited edition copies and a first-time gallery exhibition at Miami’s Art Basel.
Speaking to the historic revisiting of the iconic work, Christie’s Deputy Chairman and International Head of Photographs Darius Himes said, “The much-deserved hype and white-hot energy given off by Madonna in the early 1990s was conveyed and immortalized through Steven Meisel’s photographs. He knew how to capture the allure and sexuality of pop’s reigning queen in a way that was unrivaled. In the intervening 30 years since her infamous SEX book was released – shot exclusively in collaboration with Meisel – what has become clear is how truly iconic those photographs remain. They sit at a moment in art history of the late 20th century that both summarizes a moment, playful and prescient, and hints at the future of public stardom driven by image-conscious figures. These images are nothing short of brilliant.”
