1 of 12 The painting that influenced some of Helmut Newton's most iconic work? This S&M/BDSM image may not look shocking today in 2025, but in 1974,

The painting that influenced some of Helmut Newton's most iconic work?

This S&M/BDSM image may not look shocking today in 2025, but in 1974, it broke new ground and was radically uncomfortable for the average viewer. That was the point. Push Pin Studio illustrator Christian Piper completed it for an interior story assignment in 1974 for Playboy Magazine.

At the time, Playboy was the "IT" magazine, the trend-setting publication for new ideas and trailblazing art. Everyone in the business of visuals scrutinized every issue. Now comes the problem of eminent Photographer Helmut Newton's work with women and S&M/BDSM themes. Newton was a for-hire freelance magazine photographer. He worked for Vogue and other major newsstand magazines, including Playboy. In the October 1974 issue, Newton even did a nude spread of actress Charlotte Rampling. In a 1980s interview, Newton said, " I've been a contributor to Playboy for a very long time and I've enjoyed every minute of it, but I'm not really a Playboy-type photographer. My pictures are often too, er, raunchy for Playboy."

After researching Newton's work and dating his famous Saddle and Hotel Room, both from 1976, and Leash (Paris) from 1977, it is clear that he must have seen and been influenced by the well-known "leash and collar" two-page color illustration by Christian Piper that appeared in the August 1974 issue of Playboy. It is the exact same concept.

I personally remember Christian Piper's work from 51 years ago. It was one of Playboy's most memorable illustrations of the time. Yet, two and three years later, Helmut Newton creates an almost identical copy of the idea, using live models instead of an airbrush. These were concept-driven photos. Their S&M/BDSM theme advanced and reinforced him as one of the world's most cutting-edge and famous fine art photographers, but did Newton steal the concept from Christian Piper, who today is virtually unknown? That period was marked by many artists whose work was defined by a singular conceptual idea. Examples were Claes Oldenburg's Soft Sculpture, John Chamberlain's' Crunched Cars and Christo Wrapping, etc.
Would they be marginalized if it were discovered that they had lifted their fine art concept from someone else and then repackaged it?
This airbrush work by Piper stands on its own. However, if the Helmut Newton connection is correct and there are no Newton "women on dog leash" pictures before August 1974, then the Piper illustration is historically significant, and Newton scholars should appropriately credit Piper.

The Piper artwork appeared on pages 104-105 of the August 1974 issue of Playboy Magazine, illustrating the article by James McKinley titled "Down and Out and Female," with the caption "As if hustling drinks and johns for a living isn't bad enough, there's always jail and the cops."
Unsigned. The work is housed in the original plexiglass frame. Frame size 17.50 x 26
Airbrush Watercolor, Pencil on Illustration Board
Christian Piper, German, 1941–2019
US$25,000 Plus Shipping