Irving Penn - Photographs New York Wednesday, October 9, 2024 | Phillips
  • In 1959, Irving Penn photographed Italian actress Sophia Loren for the 1 January 1960 issue of Vogue, appearing alongside the article “People Are Talking About. . .”

     

    Three years prior, Loren had signed a five-movie deal with Paramount Pictures which launched her into the international spotlight as a bombshell sex symbol. But her role in 1960’s Two Women, for which she became the first Italian to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, would make her one of the leading stars of the decade. Penn’s portrait, taken on the cusp of her breakout role, became the harbinger of a new year, new decade and a new stage of her illustrious career.

     

    Vogue, 1 January 1960

     

    • Condition Report

    • Description

      View our Conditions of Sale.

    • Provenance

      Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

    • Literature

      Vogue, "People are talking about . . .," 1 January 1960, p. 110
      Knopf, Irving Penn: Passage, p. 129

    • 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. 

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PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTION

207

Sophia Loren, New York

1959
Platinum palladium print, printed 1970.
22 x 15 5/8 in. (55.9 x 39.7 cm)
Signed, titled, dated, annotated, numbered 1/6 in ink and pencil, credit, and Condé Nast copyright credit reproduction limitation stamps on the reverse of the aluminum flush-mount.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$30,000 - 50,000 

Place Advance Bid
Contact Specialist

Sarah Krueger
Head of Department, Photographs
skrueger@phillips.com

 

Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Chairwoman, Americas
vhallett@phillips.com

Photographs

New York Auction 9 October 2024