A new exhibit at the Getty showcases 100 years of high fashion photography from 1911 to 2011. Beginning on June 26 and running until October, ” Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography” will showcase work from such artists as Richard Avedon, Lillian Bassman, Guy Bourdin, Erwin Blumenfeld, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Hiro, Inez & Vinoodh, Peter Lindbergh, Man Ray, Helmut Newton, Nick Knight, Gordon Parks, Irving Penn, Herb Ritts, Edward Steichen, and Tim Walker as well as lesser-known but influential artists such as Corinne Day, Gleb Derujinsky, Toni Frissell, and Kourken Pakchanian.
Per the press release:
“At their core, fashion photographs are made for consumption in magazines and advertising. They are intended to arouse desire in viewers, whether it be for beauty, style, or even the trendiest lip shade or haircut. To capture attention, fashion photographs perpetually shift style or approach in the face of social, political, and economic change. Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography, 1911-2011, on view June 26-October 21, 2018 at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, is the most comprehensive exploration of this phenomenon yet undertaken, featuring more than 160 fashion photographs alongside a selection of costumes, illustrations, magazine covers, videos and advertisements. Drawn from the Getty Museum’s photographs collection as well as significant loans, the exhibition presents the work of more than eighty photographers, illuminating the innovative aesthetic and technological changes in the field.
“Once overlooked by collectors and museums because of its commercial origins, fashion photography is now recognized as having produced some of the most creative work of the twentieth century, transcending its illustrative function to yield images of great artistic quality and sophistication,” says Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. “Museums, however, have been slow to embrace this genre. The time seems ripe to present a sweeping overview of the finest examples of fashion photography produced over the past century.”
