Irving Penn (1917–2009), known for his iconic fashion, portrait and still life images that appeared in Vogue magazine, ranks as one of the foremost photographers of the 20th century.
“Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty,” the first retrospective of Penn’s work in nearly 20 years, will celebrate his legacy as a modern master and demonstrate the photographer’s continued influence on the medium. The exhibition features work from all stages of Penn’s career—street scenes from the late 1930s, photographs of the American South from the early 1940s, celebrity portraits, fashion photographs, still lifes and more private studio images.
Penn’s pictures reveal a taste for stark simplicity whether he was photographing celebrities, fashion models, still lifes or people in remote places of the world.
“Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty” is drawn entirely from the extensive holdings of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. On display will be 146 photographs from the museum’s permanent collection, including the debut of 100 photographs recently donatedto the museum by The Irving Penn Foundation.
The exhibition presents 48 previously unseen or never exhibited photographs.
“Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty” will be on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum from Oct.23 through March20, 2016, The exhibition will tour nationally following its presentation in Washington, D.C. Confirmed venues include the Dallas Museum of Artin Dallas (April 15, 2016 –Aug.14, 2016); Lesley University, College of Art and Designin Cambridge, Mass.(Sept.10, 2016 –Dec.16, 2016); the Frist SI-321-20153Center for the Visual Artsin Nashville, Tenn.(Feb. 24, 2017 –May 21, 2017); and the Wichita Art Museumin Wichita, Kan.(Sept.30, 2017 –Jan.7, 2018).
In a career that spanned nearly 70 years, Penn’s aesthetic and technical skillearned him accolades in both the artistic and commercial worlds. He was a master of both black-and-white and color photography, and his revival of platinum printing in the 1960s and 1970s was a catalyst for significant change in the art world. He was one of the first photographers to cross the chasm that separated magazine and fine-art photography, narrowing the gap between art and fashion.
Penn’s portraits and fashion photographs defined elegance in the 1950s, yet throughout his career he also transformed mundane objects—storefront signs, food, cigarette butts, street debris—into memorable images of unexpected, often surreal, beauty.“From his first photographs to the ones he made in the last years of his life, Irving Penn’s consistency of artistic integrity is remarkable,” said Foresta. “He was able to elevate even crushed coffee cups and steel blocks to the realm of great art, printing his images with exacting care.
But in the final analysis his work is not just about beauty, or about the potentials of photography as an art form, but a combination of the two that is indivisible and unique.
The 100 photographs announced as a donation to the museum in 201 3include rare street photographs from the late 1930s and 1940s, most of which are unpublished; images of post-war Europe; iconic portraits of figures such as Truman Capote,
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Salvador Dali
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and Leontyne Price;
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color photographs made for magazine editorials and commercial advertising;
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![Irving Penn, Mouth (for L’Oréal), New York, 1986, Copyright © by The Irving Penn Foundation]()
One of the twentieth century’s best-known American photographers, Irving Penn (1917-2009) was one of the first to break the boundaries between magazine and art photography. Opening on October 15th, this retrospective of Penn’s work—the first in almost twenty years—includes approximately 140 photographs from the American Art Museum’s permanent collection, and debuts 100 photographs recently donated by The Irving Penn Foundation. From the street scenes made in the late 1930s, to his late experimental images (many of them self-portraits), the images in this show reveal Penn’s taste for stark simplicity—a hallmark of his work.
- See more at: http://aspp.com/whats-hanging/irving-penn-beyond-beauty/#sthash.CoILxMFE.dpuf
self-portraits; and some of Penn’s most recognizable fashion and still life photographs.
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![Irving Penn, Red Rooster, New York, 2003, Copyright © by The Irving Penn Foundation]()
Irving Penn, Dior Black Suit (Tania), Paris, 1950, gelatin silver print Copyright © by The Irving Penn Foundation
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Nadja Auermann, Irving Penn Vogue July-1994
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All the prints were made during the artist’s lifetime and personally approved by him.
Publication
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The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog, co-published by The Irving Penn Foundation and the Smithsonian American Art Museum and distributed by Yale University Press, with an essay by Foresta and an introduction by Broun. Foresta’s essay introduces Penn to a younger generation and delves into his use of photography to respond to social and cultural change.
Penn’s portraits and fashion photographs defined elegance in the 1950s, yet throughout his career he also transformed mundane objects—storefront signs, food, cigarette butts, street debris—into memorable images of unexpected, often surreal, beauty.“From his first photographs to the ones he made in the last years of his life, Irving Penn’s consistency of artistic integrity is remarkable,” said Foresta. “He was able to elevate even crushed coffee cups and steel blocks to the realm of great art, printing his images with exacting care.
But in the final analysis his work is not just about beauty, or about the potentials of photography as an art form, but a combination of the two that is indivisible and unique.
The 100 photographs announced as a donation to the museum in 201 3include rare street photographs from the late 1930s and 1940s, most of which are unpublished; images of post-war Europe; iconic portraits of figures such as Truman Capote,
Irving Penn, Truman Capote 1979 (3 of 3), New York, 1979, gelatin silver print, Copyright © by The Irving Penn Foundation
Salvador Dali
and Leontyne Price;
color photographs made for magazine editorials and commercial advertising;
Irving Penn, Mouth (for L’Oréal), New York, 1986, Copyright © by The Irving Penn Foundation
Irving Penn, Mouth (for L’Oréal), New York, 1986, Copyright © by The Irving Penn Foundation
self-portraits; and some of Penn’s most recognizable fashion and still life photographs.
Irving Penn, Red Rooster, New York, 2003, Copyright © by The Irving Penn Foundation - See more at: http://aspp.com/whats-hanging/irving-penn-beyond-beauty/#sthash.Fumm3Iyn.dpuf
Irving Penn, Red Rooster, New York, 2003, Copyright © by The Irving Penn Foundation
- See more at: http://aspp.com/whats-hanging/irving-penn-beyond-beauty/#sthash.Fumm3Iyn.dpufIrving Penn, Dior Black Suit (Tania), Paris, 1950, gelatin silver print Copyright © by The Irving Penn Foundation
Irving Penn, Mouth (for L’Oréal), New York, 1986, Copyright © by The Irving Penn Foundation - See more at: http://aspp.com/whats-hanging/irving-penn-beyond-beauty/#sthash.bUTq3yIQ.dpuf
Nadja Auermann, Irving Penn Vogue July-1994
All the prints were made during the artist’s lifetime and personally approved by him.
Publication
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog, co-published by The Irving Penn Foundation and the Smithsonian American Art Museum and distributed by Yale University Press, with an essay by Foresta and an introduction by Broun. Foresta’s essay introduces Penn to a younger generation and delves into his use of photography to respond to social and cultural change.