62
Irving Penn
Vogue Fashion Photograph (Café in Lima) , Peru (Jean Patchett)
- Estimate
- $70,000 - 90,000
$137,000
Lot Details
Selenium toned gelatin silver print, printed 1984.
1948
19 1/4 x 18 1/2 in. (48.9 x 47 cm)
Signed, titled, dated, initialed twice in ink, annotated 'Passage Print' in an unidentified hand in pencil, Condé Nast copyright credit reproduction limitation, credit and edition stamps on the reverse of the mount. One from an edition of 25.
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Catalogue Essay
Irving Penn’s trailblazing career at Vogue began in 1940, when the twenty-three year old aspiring photographer began working under the famed Creative Director Alexander Lieberman. Together, the two successfully collaborated on endless photoshoots, such as the one depicted in the current lot. In 1948 Vogue commissioned Penn to do a fashion shoot in Lima, Peru, alongside leading model Jean Patchett. The resulting spread was entitled “Flying down to Lima” and was featured in the 15 February 1949 issue. The format of the spread was a whimsical, sweet travelogue, presenting couture in an accessible, personalized demeanor. Patchett was depicted as a modernized Post-War woman: newly independent, flirty, casual and liberated. As a fashion shoot, this would be among the very few that Penn would photograph outside of the studio throughout the remainder of his illustrious decades-long career at Vogue.
Literature
Irving Penn
American | B. 1917 D. 2009Irving Penn was one of the 20th century’s most significant photographers, known for his arresting images, technical mastery, and quiet intensity. Though he gained widespread acclaim as a leading Vogue photographer for over sixty years, Penn remained a private figure devoted to his craft. Trained under legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch in Philadelphia, he began his career assisting at Harper’s Bazaar before joining Vogue in 1943, where editor and artist Alexander Liberman recognized Penn’s distinctive eye and encouraged him to pursue photography. Penn’s incomparably elegant fashion studies reset the standard for the magazine world, and his portraits, still lifes, and nude studies broke new ground. His 1960 book Moments Preserved redefined the photographic monograph with its dynamic layout and high-quality reproductions. In 1964, Penn began printing in platinum and palladium, reviving this 19th-century process to serve his own distinct vision. An innovator in every sense, Penn’s approach to photography was endlessly adventurous. Few photographers of his generation experimented as widely with both conventional and historic print processes, and none achieved Penn’s level of excellence in all.
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