Phillip Wong Photography

Editorial

German Playboy – Jeff Koons – Martina Moculescu

           The first time I returned from Europe, I was contacted in New York by German Playboy to shoot a scene with the Playmate of the Year and work with Jeff Koons. 

           I had been in Europe when Koons was becoming notorious for his work with his wife, Ilona Stadler. 

        He had a studio in a building on Broadway and Houston, and I agreed to work with him and a crew of people German Playboy had assembled. Koons had pitched an idea to the editors who wanted his name involved based on postcards of two paintings: Jean Honore Fragonard’s Girl Playing With A Dog, and Francois Boucher’s Resting Girl. He loved the lushness of the 1700s ambiance, and I was looking at focusing on Martina Moculescu, whom I had just met, but as a Playmate of the Year, I thought the qualities that made her special,  should be brought out. 

        I loosely followed Koon’s desire for lushness, and the framework of the artwork on these postcards, and produced the three images here. (She was also shot by two other photographers in other countries.) 

          A number of years later, Jeff Koons came out with his “Gazing Ball” collection which used the Boucher painting, and then a collection which featured “Pot Rack” in which my photograph of Martina, based on Fragonard’s painting, was the foundation behind the Koons painting.

          I thought the dog was lost behind a flurry of pans.