Ivy Compton-Burnett

Irving Penn (1917-2009), one of the undisputed masters of twentieth-century photography, is known for his iconic images of haute couture and still life, but also, and above all, for his magnificent portraits of the artists, writers and celebrities who marked the cultural landscape of their time.

This photograph depicts Ivy Compton-Burnett (1884-1969), the great British novelist, author of some twenty brooding novels. Each of her works reveals “the skeleton in the closet” in various upper-middle class, Belle Époque homes. Compton-Burnett developed her own style, removed from the literary trends of her time: continuous dialogues between characters, without any narration or analysis. This particularity led to many adaptations of her works for theatre and radio, which met with great success.

This photograph was shown for the first time by Pinault Collection in 2023 during the exhibition “Irving Penn, Artists' Portraits”, Villa Les Roches Brunes, Dinard.