Irving Penn - Photographs New York Tuesday, April 1, 2014 | Phillips

Photographs

New York Auction 1 April 10am & 2pm

  • Literature

    Harrison, Appearances: Fashion Photography Since 1945, p. 248
    Knopf/Callaway, Irving Penn: Passage, p. 56
    Vogue, 15 February 1949

  • 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.

  • Artist Biography

    Irving Penn

    American • 1917 - 2009

    Arresting portraits, exquisite flowers, luscious food and glamorous models populate Irving Penn's meticulously rendered, masterful prints. Penn employed the elegant simplicity of a gray or white backdrop to pose his subjects, be it a model in the latest Parisian fashion, a famous subject or veiled women in Morocco.

    Irving Penn's distinct aesthetic transformed twentieth-century elegance and style, with each brilliant composition beautifully articulating his subjects. Working across several photographic mediums, Penn was a master printmaker. Regardless of the subject, each and every piece is rendered with supreme beauty. 

    View More Works

62

Irving Penn

Vogue Fashion Photograph (Café in Lima) , Peru (Jean Patchett)

1948
Selenium toned gelatin silver print, printed 1984.
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.

Estimate
$70,000 - 90,000 

Sold for $137,000

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Worldwide Head, Photographs
vhallett@phillips.com

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Head of Sale, New York
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Photographs

New York Auction 1 April 10am & 2pm