Irving
Penn
Irving
Penn
Penn
Perfectionist, humanist and eclectic. This might be the way to classify the immense photographic career of Irving Penn, if one were forced to do so. From “Earthly Bodies” to “Small Trades”; Vogue covers to ethnographic portraits; floral still lifes to experimental nudes; his vast body of work masterfully covers the most diverse genres in the history of photography.
Irving Penn is first and foremost a studio photographer. The "neutral zone" that he methodically creates in the studio, using a simple background of canvas or white paper bathed in natural light, establishes a decontextualising spatial framework that also brings the physical presence of his multiple subjects to the fore. This principle of working very modestly would follow him on all his travels, from Morocco to New Guinea via San Francisco, Cuzco and Nepal.
An invaluable legacy for the world of photography, the work of Irving Penn is represented in the Pinault Collection by a large number of his photographs, displayed at the monographic exhibition “Irving Penn, Resonance” which was held in 2015-2016 at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice.
Irving Penn is first and foremost a studio photographer. The "neutral zone" that he methodically creates in the studio, using a simple background of canvas or white paper bathed in natural light, establishes a decontextualising spatial framework that also brings the physical presence of his multiple subjects to the fore. This principle of working very modestly would follow him on all his travels, from Morocco to New Guinea via San Francisco, Cuzco and Nepal.
An invaluable legacy for the world of photography, the work of Irving Penn is represented in the Pinault Collection by a large number of his photographs, displayed at the monographic exhibition “Irving Penn, Resonance” which was held in 2015-2016 at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice.
