IRVING PENN – ON ASSIGNMENT
2013-09-23Widely recognized as one of the most prolific and respected photographers of the 20th century, Irving Penn began his photographic career in 1943 at the suggestion and encouragement of Vogue’s then Art Director, Alexander Liberman. The first color photograph Penn made on assignment for Vogue appeared on the cover of the October 1st issue that same year, he first still life cover in the magazine’s history – and Liberman immediately “sensed that we were in the presence of a major new vision, with infinite possibilities for growth and discovery.”
Penn developed that artistic vision over the next sixty years, shooting more than 150 covers for Vogue between 1943 and 2004 (a selection of which will be on view), creating celebrated portraits of leading cultural figures such as Pablo Picasso, Truman Capote, and Miles Davis, and producing groundbreaking fashion editorials noted for their natural lighting and formal simplicity. With an elegance and economy of composition, Penn’s 1950 pictures of the Paris couture collections revised the visual aesthetics of fashion photography, and the act of placing his subjects, whether a model in Balenciaga, a Dahomey native, or tradesperson dressed in work clothes, against a seamless, neutral backdrop without context or narrative became a signature trademark of Penn’s style. This approach produced photographs that focused on the subject, rather than the environment in which they might have been found. The deft craft of his still lifes transformed common objects into abstracted elements of modern artistic expression.
Exhibition runs through to October 26th, 2013
Pace/MacGill Gallery
32 E 57th St 9th floor
New York
NY
10022
