Irving Penn. Photographs 1939-2007

A major exhibition dedicated to the American photographer who left his mark on fashion, portraiture and still life photography is opening the exhibition season at Rome’s new Centro della Fotografia di Roma, which is hosted inside the Mattatoio/Città delle Arti.

The exhibition is curated by Pascal Hoël, Frédérique Dolivet and Alessandra Mauro, and promoted by Roma Capitale and Fondazione Mattatoio. It includes 109 prints dated between 1939 and 2007 and coming from the prestigious collection of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP) in Paris. The collection is the result of a long collaboration with the artist and, in more recent years, an ongoing dialogue with the Irving Penn Foundation, an institution founded by Irving Penn himself to preserve and promote his artistic legacy.

A legendary collaborator with Vogue magazine and a leading figure on the international scene for over sixty years, Irving Penn influenced generations of photographers with his innovative vision and unmistakable style, a skillful combination of rigor, elegance and attention to detail. His images, mostly taken in the studio, are renowned for their apparent simplicity and their ability to portray famous subjects and ordinary people with equal intensity. Alongside portraits of artists, writers and celebrities, Penn devoted considerable attention to personal projects that have become iconic, such as still lifes featuring cigarette butts or abandoned objects, transformed into images of striking beauty.

To offer a comprehensive overview of his work, highlighting not only the power of his artistic vision but also his skill as a printer and his mastery of sophisticated techniques, the exhibition is organized into six sections that trace the photographer’s long career. These are Early Work (1939-1947), Travels (shots taken for Vogue between 1948 and 1971 around the world, from Peru to Nepal, from Cameroon to New Guinea), Portraits (1947-1996), mostly of celebrities, Nudes (1949-1967), a very personal series of photographs of female nudes, Fashion and Beauty (1949-2007) and finally the inanimate objects of Still Life (1949-2007) staged with surprising creativity.

Header: Picasso (1 of 6), Cannes, 1957. Collection Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris.  © The Irving Penn Foundation