Dried Sunflower by Tom Baril

Tom Baril was born in Connecticut in 1952. A graduate of New York’s School of Visual Arts, spent over fifteen years as Robert Mapplethorpe’s exclusive master printer, but over the past 25 years, he has pursued a career with his own photographs. His projects include large-format photographs of urban architecture, seascapes and botanical and nature photographs.

Tom Baril’s work has been the subject of two monographs, the highly acclaimed self-titled book published by 4AD in 1997, and Botanica published by Arena Editions in 1999. His work is in the permanent collections of museums such as Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, The Fogg Museum at Harvard University, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Center for Creative Photography, the George Eastman House, the Polaroid Collection and the Elton John Collection.

PROVENANCE/This Print:

This photograph was purchased by a Toronto collector in the late 1990’s, from the Bonnie Benrubi Gallery. It is has a commanding presence, rich in detail, but its soft tones add elegance to its graphic composition.