Karen Blixen in Rungstedlund, Denmark, 1961

Swann Galleries, auction, New York, 17 October 2013, lot 226 Estate of Robert Noakes

This photograph of Karen Blixen was taken during Peter Beard's first trip to Copenhagen in December 1961, when Beard was introduced to Blixen through his cousin Jerome Hill. Beard returned to Copenhagen a second time in June 1962 and continued photographing Karen Blixen, building a friendship. Blixen, through a letter of introduction, connected Beard to her former majordomo Kamante Gatura, whom Beard found in Kenya during his time in Africa, and would later live with in Hog Ranch, forming the Hog Ranch Art Department.  Karen Blixen was a Danish author who wrote under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen and wrote "Out of Africa", "Shadows in the Grass", and "Gothic Tales". It was through his friendship with Karen that The Rungstedlund Foundation and the literary executors of Blixen’s estate were compelled to grant Peter Beard the film rights to "Out of Africa" in 1967, feeling he was the artist who would be most sympathetic in translating the book into cinematic form.