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an image of a woman in a white bodysuit is posing
Maître Nicolas CONSTANTY

21 - Steven Meisel (1954–) – Yves Saint Laurent, Opium.
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Estimate €150 - €200
Sale commission
Description
Steven Meisel (1954–) – Yves Saint Laurent, Opium. December 2000. 175 x 118.5 cm. Original poster, offset print, unmounted. Condition A–: very slight creases at the very edges of the margins, scattered light stains. Whilst the fragrance is already an icon of the brand in its own right, this poster is arguably one of the most remarkable to have promoted it. On the initiative of the then creative director, Tom Ford, Meisel created this sensual and erotic image, evoking the posture of 19th-century opium smokers in a hallucinogenic trance, but also the tempting red-haired prostitute with diaphanous skin, adorned with lavish jewellery who turns men’s heads, much as one might have imagined the demi-mondaines of that era. This campaign marked a major turning point in the career of the model Sophie Dahl, who is featured on this poster. And with good reason: the poster was immediately censored in England, deemed too pornographic and linked to the promotion of drugs. That was all it took to turn this scandal into a global media sensation. Often attributed to Guy Bourdin, the photograph was in fact taken by Meisel, the American photographer, for whom this was neither his first scandal nor his first nude shoot, as he is also the photographer behind Madonna’s book ‘Sex’. This poster is therefore rare, but it is also one of the most striking of the 2000s and is now a vintage icon, regarded by some experts as a milestone in the history of advertising, bluntly demonstrating that sex sells and laying the foundations for the cult of appearance and the Instagram influencers’ trade on social media. Reference: *All American Ads 2000*, Taschen, 2025.
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About the sale Shocking posters! Poster sale no. 18.
Auction location
Auction time 11/05/2026 at 4:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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