Richard Prince: Bettie Kline

Conceived by Richard Prince and limited to a thousand copies, this large-format artist’s book juxtaposes Irving Klaw’s photographs of 1950s pinup model Bettie Page with reproductions of artworks by Abstract Expressionist painter Franz Kline. According to Prince’s accompanying text, Klaw—the self-described “Pin-up King,” who with his sister Paula produced pinup and bondage photos of subjects including the iconic Page—maintained a studio at the New York address where Kline lived and worked. In Prince’s account, Kline would sometimes use Klaw’s models for figure studies, and Page became his secret subject and muse. The book’s unexpected pairings of Klaw’s photos of the model’s body with Kline’s expressive marks produce a frisson of surprise and extend the art historical significance of the female nude.