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Irving Penn's Extraordinary Portrait Photographs

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By Ralph Deeds


Marcel Duchamp



Irving Penn Portraitist Extraordinaire

At age 90 Irving Penn, the dean of American potrait photographers, continues his work in New York City. As did Richard Avedon, Penn began at Vogue magazine in the 1940s. Penn's portraits span time and subjects unmatched by any other photographer.


An exhibition of his work entitled "Close Encounters: Irving Penn Portraits of Artists and Writers" organized by Peter Barberie at the Morgan Library in New York City. The exhibit displays portraits of Picasso, Simone de Beauvoir, Woody Allen, Ingmar Bergman, H.L. Mencken, Marcel Duchamps, Jean Cocteau, S.J. Perelman, Carson McCullers, Arthur Miller, Orson Welles, Jasper Johns and other artists and writers. A NYTimes slide show sampling of Penn's "Close Encounters" exhibit is linked below along with Karen Rosenberg's article in the Times.





Richard Avedon portrait by Irving Penn

Kate Moss portrait by Irving Penn

Pablo Picasso

Marlene Dietrich

Irving Penn nude


Lisa Cant

Jesseye Norman

Blaise Cendrars and His Wife (whose name I was unable to discover)

Sophia Loren

Irving Penn's Wife and Model

Salvador Dali

Kate Moss

S.J. Perelman

Cafe in Lima

Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Diane Von Furstenberg
Diane Von Furstenberg
Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon

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Kenny Wordsmith profile image

Kenny Wordsmith  says:
2 years ago

Loved the slide show. What power!

Had seen only the Cocteau and Picasso before.

Many thanks, Ralph!

Iðunn profile image

Iðunn  says:
2 years ago

bah, I get jealous because I don't live anywhere near anything more cultural than a cow on a stick downtown with our county's dairy figures listed under it. :(

good hub :)

C.M. Vanderlinden profile image

C.M. Vanderlinden  says:
2 years ago

Great hub, Ralph! I love that photo of Marcel Duchamp.

stanskill profile image

stanskill  says:
2 years ago

I started out in black, and it's still my favorite because of the varying degrees on shadows, blacks and whites.

AuraGem profile image

AuraGem  says:
2 years ago

I drift through all this cultural exotica on a magic carpet and then tumble into loun's comment! Nothing like raw reality! But hey lounn! I wouldn't trade my mountain by the bay for anyone! Your cows and my trees + water = earthy culture! lol

Great hub!

Smiles and light

Patty Inglish, MS profile image

Patty Inglish, MS  says:
2 years ago

Amazing photos. So glad to get a look.

Iounn - Cow on a stick???

shyamchat profile image

shyamchat  says:
2 years ago

Amazing ! simply amazing!!

can i ask a question? how did you insert marcel's photo in the text portion of the HUB?

Ralph Deeds profile image

Ralph Deeds  says:
2 years ago

I used the little green arrows to make the image smaller. Then I moved it up next to the text. It works pretty automatically.

Thanks for the comments.

Iðunn profile image

Iðunn  says:
2 years ago

ok, the infamous cow-on-a-stick story.

the town I lived in and closest to now that I'm out in the country, has a cow-on-a-stick in the main square downtown. It's a huge metal pole with a giant metal and painted cow stuck on it, just what it sounds like.

there is a new one they put about 5 years ago, a bit smaller than the last one which was HUGE. they took the old one down and it was sitting on a mechanics lot for the longest time, all HUGE and cow-y and it had a 'for sale' sign on it, $1000.

I wanted this cow, all I could think was geeze, what a bargain. I had a dream, friends. I had a dream of buying the giant cow, cutting a windshield out of the chest, dropping in a motor and a horn and of driving this giant cow as a cow-car. then you could be like driving along and if someone was in your way, you could honk the horn "moooo-ve over". wouldn't that be neat?

except, ahem. I didn't have a thousand dollars or money to make it a cow car, even if it were possible and given all that, even if I could have afforded it, it was too big to go under the street lights. :(

another busted dream. story of my life. :|

Iðunn profile image

Iðunn  says:
2 years ago

sorry for disrupting your artistic flow, ralph :(

Ralph Deeds profile image

Ralph Deeds  says:
2 years ago

Take a picture of it and make a cow-on-a-stick Hub!

Iðunn profile image

Iðunn  says:
2 years ago

lol, I should but I don't have a digital cam or a scanner. I suppose I could get a regular pic on a disposable cam and let the drugstore put one on disc for me, though. I'll see what I can do. :)

rural texas culture... a thing of beauty. :D

Ralph Deeds profile image

Ralph Deeds  says:
2 years ago

Here's a cow on a stick. http://www.barbaraarcher.com/artists/truett/img/mt

Iðunn profile image

Iðunn  says:
2 years ago

roflmao, ralph. haha, I can't believe you image googled "cow-on-a-stick". I think my inanity is contagious. you just delighted me beyond measure.

Ok, I'll steal (and credit) this other person's cow-on-a-stick and Hub this thing, but I'm holding you responsible as an accessory to the crime. :D

Iðunn profile image

Iðunn  says:
2 years ago

go look :p

rogue nestling profile image

rogue nestling  says:
2 years ago

Interesting pics. They seem to bare the soul of the subject and create mystery at the same time.

Darien profile image

Darien  says:
2 years ago

Wonderful lineup of work. http://hubpages.com/hub/My-walk-to-CVS

Lengo  says:
8 months ago

Mr. Deeds,

You have a very fine collection of Penn photos. Congratulations! May your collection grow and you continue to share them here.

Many thanks!

lafenty profile image

lafenty  says:
4 months ago

Great collection of photos. As a black and white photographer, they give me something to strive for. Really beautiful.

paulgiunta profile image

paulgiunta  says:
2 months ago

I love the Picasso portrait

Ralph Deeds profile image

Ralph Deeds  says:
2 months ago

Irving Penn dead at 92.

barranca profile image

barranca  says:
2 months ago

Enjoyed this very much. Muchas Gracias.

Ralph Deeds profile image

Ralph Deeds  says:
2 months ago

De nada, hermano.

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