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Irving Penn

photographer

American[1] b. 16 June 1917, Plainfield, New Jersey[1] d. 7 October 2009, New York City, New York[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14] active 1943–2009

Irving Penn (1917–2009) was a preeminent American photographer renowned for his influential work in fashion photography, portraiture, and still life. A student of Alexey Brodovitch, Penn began his career as a graphic designer before moving into photography at Vogue magazine in the 1940s. He is celebrated for his mastery of monochromatic backdrops, precise composition, and technical innovation, particularly in platinum printing. His work often explored the intersection of high fashion and artistic expression, capturing iconic figures and designers while maintaining an austere, modernist aesthetic. Penn's photography has been exhibited globally and remains a cornerstone of 20th-century visual culture.[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23]

  • fashion
  • portraiture
  • still life
  • nudes
  • modernism

Books

  1. Irving Penn Earthly bodies : Irving Penn's nudes 824
    Earthly bodies : Irving Penn's nudes
    Irving Penn
    €39.00
  2. Maria Morris Hambourg Irving Penn: Centennial 2740
    Irving Penn: Centennial
    Maria Morris Hambourg
    €18.00

Works by Irving Penn

  • 2002 Earthly Bodies: Irving Penn's Nudes, 1949-50 The Metropolitan Museum of Art · book · English · ISBN 0821227874 Contains fifty-three plates displaying Penn's exploration of the female nude.
  • 1960 Moments Preserved book
  • 1974 Worlds in a Small Room book · ISBN 978-0-670-79025-8
  • 1977 Inventive Paris Clothes, 1909–1939 book · ISBN 0-670-40067-X
  • 1980 Flowers book · ISBN 0-517-540746
  • 1991 Passage book · ISBN 0-679-40491-0
  • 1999 Drawings book · ISBN 0-9665480-0-0
  • 1999 The Astronomers Plan a Voyage to Earth book · ISBN 0-9665480-1-9
  • 1999 Irving Penn Regards The Work of Issey Miyake book · ISBN 0-224-05966-1
  • 2001 Still Life book · ISBN 0-8212-2702-5
  • 2004 A Notebook at Random book · ISBN 0-8212-6192-4
  • 2004 Photographs of Dahomey book · ISBN 3-7757-1449-9

Exhibitions

  • 1975 Irving Penn: Recent Works, Photographs of Cigarettes Museum of Modern Art, New York · solo
  • 1975 Irving Penn: Platinum Plates The Photographers' Gallery, London · solo
  • 1977 Irving Penn: Street Material. Photographs in Platinum Metals The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · solo
  • 1997 Irving Penn: A Career in Photography The Art Institute of Chicago · solo
  • 2002 Earthly Bodies: Irving Penn's Nudes, 1949–1950 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · solo
  • 2017 Irving Penn: Centennial Metropolitan Museum of Art / Grand Palais, New York / Paris · solo

Awards

  • 1987 The Cultural Award from the German Society for Photography (DGPh) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie e.V.

References

  1. Andy Grundberg. Irving Penn, Fashion Photographer, Is Dead at 92. The New York Times. 2009 link
  2. Danielle Berrin. ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ director Arthur Penn dies at 88. Jewish Journal. 2010 link
  3. Dave Kehr. Arthur Penn, Director of 'Bonnie and Clyde,' Dies. The New York Times. 2010 link
  4. Leon Friend: One Teacher, Many Apostles. Design Observer. 2007 link
  5. Hambourg, Maria Morris et al.. Irving Penn: Centennial. Metropolitan Museum of Art/Yale University Press. 2017 link
  6. Philadelphia Museum of Art. School of Industrial Art. Commencement program, 1938. 1938 link
  7. Irving Penn. Passage. Alfred A. Knopf. 1991
  8. AFS Janus - January 2010. 2010 link
  9. Sarah Greenough. Irving Penn Platinum Prints. Yale University Press. 2005
  10. Obituary: Irving Penn. The Daily Telegraph. 2009 link
  11. Kennedy Fraser. The Mighty Penn. Vogue. 2007 link
  12. Irving Penn, 92, Is Dead. The New York Times. 2009 link
  13. Andy Grundberg. Irving Penn, Fashion Photographer, Is Dead at 92. The New York Times. 2009 link
  14. Adam Bernstein. Irving Penn, 92: Fashion, Celebrity Photographer Found Beauty in the Commonplace. Washington Post. 2009 link
  15. Irving Penn - Photographs New York Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Phillips. 2023 link
  16. Vicky Gan. Iconic Photography by the Legendary Irving Penn Comes to the American Art Museum. Smithsonian. 2014 link
  17. Angel Gurría-Quintana. Irving Penn retrospective. Financial Times. 2010 link
  18. Irving Penn. International Center of Photography. 2019 link
  19. Irving Penn - Photographs New York Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Phillips. 2023 link
  20. London Photography Exhibitions January 2016. jfFrank online. 2016 link
  21. London Photography Exhibitions November 2017. jfFrank online. 2017 link
  22. Sarah Greenough. Irving Penn Platinum Prints. Yale University Press. 2005
  23. How Irving Penn revolutionised fashion photography. Dazed. 2017 link