Irving Penn
Resonance – Photographs from the Pinault Collection
On the centenary of Irving Penn’s birth, Fotografiska presents a generous selection of Penn’s work. The exhibition Resonance – Photographs from the Pinault Collection is curated by Pierre Apraxine and Matthieu Humery, organized by Johan Vikner, Exhibition Coordinator at Fotografiska in collaboration with the Pinault Collection and Palazzo Grassi, Venice.
a journey through Irving Penn’s imagery
“As one of the most celebrated and influential photographers of the 20th century, Irving Penn (https://fotografiska.woo.flewid.se/exhibition/resonance-pinault-collection/) wielded an enduring influence on the development of the medium with his classic portraits and carefully arranged still lifes. A master of light and composition, Penn allowed each subject and object to play the lead against a simple background, each one a nucleus of equal importance. Detailed studies of everyday objects such as cigarette butts, paper cups or pieces of bone were portrayed with the same perfect harmony as haute couture, super models and ordinary workers,” Johan Vikner, Exhibition Coordinator at Fotografiska says.
Resonance is a journey through Irving Penn’s imagery from the late 1940s to the mid-1990s and depicts various elements of Penn’s oeuvre. A portrayer of every aspect of life and events who saw beauty in a pure composition, his photographs continue to intrigue and beguile viewers all over the world. One of them is François Pinault who was deeply touched when he first saw the series of the children in Cuzco and had the opportunity to acquire a work. Curator Matthieu Humery explains that this was a first step in the creation of one of the most prominent private Penn collections in the world.
“Irving Penn’s work never ceases to amaze and it is with tremendous pleasure we pursue this collaboration with Fotografiska and embrace the opportunity to reach a large audience, Matthieu Humery says.”