- 169
John Minihan b.1946
Description
- John Minihan
- samuel beckett photographed in room 604, hyde park hotel, london 1980.
- signed and titled; signed, inscribed Samuel Beckett / Room 604, The Hyde Park Hotel, London 1980 and numbered P/P on the reverse
- silver gelatin print
- plate: 30 by 44.5cm.; 11¾ by 17½in.
Catalogue Note
Minihan has often been referred to as Samuel Beckett’s ‘official’ photographer and with good reason. The wonderfully evocative series of shots of Beckett which he took were gained through having unprecedented access to the usually elusive and publicity-shy playwright. They first met in 1980 when Beckett was directing Endgame at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. The following day Minihan ventured to the Hyde Park Hotel to find Beckett in the now infamous room 604 where he took a series of shots, 'finally getting to meet Sam Beckett in that hotel room was the culmination of a ten year journey for me…' . He also shot Beckett in 1984 and persuaded him again in 1985 in Paris with the advent of his 80th birthday (see lot 167). As a result, these last pictures produced are arguably the most iconic pictures ever taken of him.