IRVING PENN (b. 1917)

Vogue, Fashion Photograph (Café in Lima), Peru, 1948

Details

IRVING PENN (b. 1917)
Vogue, Fashion Photograph (Café in Lima), Peru, 1948
gelatin silver print, printed 1984
signed, titled, dated in ink, 'Penn/Condé Nast' copyright credit reproduction limitation and edition stamps (on the reverse of the mount). One from an edition of 25.
19 1/8 x 18½in. (48.6 x 47cm.)

Literature

'Lima,' Vogue, February 15, 1949; Penn, Passage: A Work Record, Knopf Callaway, 1991, p. 56; Harrison, Appearances: Fashion Photography since 1945, Rizzoli, 1991, p. 48; Angeletti and Oliva, In Vogue, Rizzoli, 2006, p. 144

Lot Essay

This photograph marks a turning point in fashion photography at Vogue for it portrays clothing unposed in a natural setting. It is a result of the art director Alexander Liberman pushing Irving Penn to work in Lima, Peru far from his Manhattan studio. The model Jean Patchett recalled, 'We flew 3,200 miles and after we got there, a week went by and Mr. Penn still hadn't used his camera. I started getting nervous about it. Every day I got up and got dressed but he never took a picture. Finally one day we found this little café, and there was a young man sitting across from me, and I was getting frustrated. So I just sort of said to myself to heck with this and I picked up my pearls and I kicked off my shoes. My feet were hurting. And he said 'Stop!'' (Angeletti and Oliva, In Vogue, Rizzoli, 2006, p. 147.)

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