LOPEZ, Antonio (1943-1987, Puerto Rican). "June by Antonio / 1985" Original Signed Portrait of June Weir-Brown. [New York:] 1985. Pencil and watercolor portrait of fashion historian and journalist June Weir-Brown. Signed in pencil on lower margin. 11 x 14". On thick art paper. Together with the original black and white photograph of Weir used as a model for this drawing (11 x 14", mounted). 

From the collection of June Weir-Baron (1928 - 2015), fashion historian and journalist, the first woman Vice President at Fairchild Publications, a major force in her capacity as Fashion Editor and Assistant Publisher of Women's Wear Daily and W, as an influential editor at Vogue, Executive Fashion Editor at Harper's Bazaar, deputy Style Editor for The New York Times Sunday Magazine and Contributing Editor at Mirabella. In his influential designs, Lopez frequently explored themes of queer desire and race through cultural references to subjects such as Josephine Baker and The Wild One. Several books collecting his illustrations have been published, and in his obituary, The New York Times called him a "major fashion illustrator." Working in close collaboration with Juan Eugene Ramos and Charles James, he was also an associate of Karl Lagerfeld and is credited with the discoveries of Jessica Lange, Jerry Hall, and Grace Jones. As seen here, he generally signed his works as "Antonio." He died at the age of 43 from Kaposi's Sarcoma as a complication of AIDS. His work is seldom encountered on the market, and this is a fine example with extraordinary provenance.

Fine.