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Performance
"We all perform. It's what we do for each other all the time, deliberately or unintentionally. It's a way of telling about ourselves in the hope of being recognized as what we'd like to be."
--Richard Avedon, 1974
The preeminent stars and artists of the performing arts from the second half of the 20th century offered their greatest gifts―and, sometimes, their inner lives―to Richard Avedon. More than 200 are portrayed in Performance, many in photographs that have been rarely or never seen before. Of course, the great stars light the Hepburn and Chaplin, Monroe and Garland, Brando and Sinatra. But here too are the actors and comedians, pop stars and divas, musicians and dancers, artists in all mediums with public lives that were essentially performances, who stand at the pinnacle of our cultural achievement. The celebrated author and critic John Lahr offers an elegant assessment of Avedon’s achievement. Four supremely talented artists from the performing arts―Mike Nichols, André Gregory, Mitsuko Uchida, and Twyla Tharp―contribute lively and moving memoirs about their collaborations with Avedon.
--Richard Avedon, 1974
The preeminent stars and artists of the performing arts from the second half of the 20th century offered their greatest gifts―and, sometimes, their inner lives―to Richard Avedon. More than 200 are portrayed in Performance, many in photographs that have been rarely or never seen before. Of course, the great stars light the Hepburn and Chaplin, Monroe and Garland, Brando and Sinatra. But here too are the actors and comedians, pop stars and divas, musicians and dancers, artists in all mediums with public lives that were essentially performances, who stand at the pinnacle of our cultural achievement. The celebrated author and critic John Lahr offers an elegant assessment of Avedon’s achievement. Four supremely talented artists from the performing arts―Mike Nichols, André Gregory, Mitsuko Uchida, and Twyla Tharp―contribute lively and moving memoirs about their collaborations with Avedon.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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About the author
Richard Avedon
192 books46 followersPeople note fashion photography and stark portraits of Richard Avedon, an American.
Richard Avedon captured ideals of celebrity and beauty in the 20th and early 21st centuries to helped to establish a contemporary art form. Avedon developed a distinct, iconic style. While his contemporaries focused on single moments or composed formal images, his lighting and minimalist white backdrops drew the viewer to the intimate, emotive power of the expression of the subject.
Richard Avedon studied philosophy at Columbia University, New York, and served in the department of the merchant marines of the United States before studying with Alexey Brodovitch at the New School for Social Research.
From 1945, he worked and revolutionized the craft even as he honed his aesthetic to 1965. He worked in magazines from Harper's Bazaar and Vogue to Life and Look. Later, he moved into journalism and the art world. His subjects included pop stars, models, musicians, writers, artists, workers, political activists, soldiers, victims of Vietnam War, politicians, and his family.
Curator Paul Roth observes: “In an Avedon portrait, the face maps an intersection: It is a place where the world outside the photograph meets the world inside the mind.”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York presented solo exhibitions in 1978 and 2002. The Whitney Museum of Art in New York in 1994 mounted major retrospective. The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humblebaek, Denmark, mounted his works in 2007, and the exhibit traveled to Milan, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, and San Francisco through 2009.
Richard Avedon captured ideals of celebrity and beauty in the 20th and early 21st centuries to helped to establish a contemporary art form. Avedon developed a distinct, iconic style. While his contemporaries focused on single moments or composed formal images, his lighting and minimalist white backdrops drew the viewer to the intimate, emotive power of the expression of the subject.
Richard Avedon studied philosophy at Columbia University, New York, and served in the department of the merchant marines of the United States before studying with Alexey Brodovitch at the New School for Social Research.
From 1945, he worked and revolutionized the craft even as he honed his aesthetic to 1965. He worked in magazines from Harper's Bazaar and Vogue to Life and Look. Later, he moved into journalism and the art world. His subjects included pop stars, models, musicians, writers, artists, workers, political activists, soldiers, victims of Vietnam War, politicians, and his family.
Curator Paul Roth observes: “In an Avedon portrait, the face maps an intersection: It is a place where the world outside the photograph meets the world inside the mind.”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York presented solo exhibitions in 1978 and 2002. The Whitney Museum of Art in New York in 1994 mounted major retrospective. The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humblebaek, Denmark, mounted his works in 2007, and the exhibit traveled to Milan, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, and San Francisco through 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 2, 2014
Second only to the book which collects Avedon's fashion photography portfolio, this book is chalk full of some of the best of Avedon's work. Spanning the creative arts genres to encompass everything from actors to poets, Avedon has captured the people who publicly defined the second half of the 20th-century. Many of the photos are easily recognizable - Avedon was extremely prolific and his photos are everywhere - but many of his lesser know photos are also included. Marilyn Monroe post-performance - an image which captures the exhaustion and sadness behind her public mask - is the best example of this, as it captures the person behind the Hollywood lens, and is therefore not an image that Hollywood wanted released as it did those of the sexed-up persona.
March 28, 2016
This book was amazing. I bought it at a used book store and the price was hefty for a used book but the photographs are absolutely spectacular. Not only do they capture an era in our cultural history but each one is an individual work of art. I could not put this book down until I had wallowed in each and every photo and accompanying text. Beautiful. The book itself is a giant work of art. I love it.
April 15, 2009
given my love of Avedon....
interesting and creative binding but not very practical for reading. everytime I read the book, I'm afraid I'm going to damage the second flap. the photos are typical Avedon; great, incisive, not always flattering but powerful.
interesting and creative binding but not very practical for reading. everytime I read the book, I'm afraid I'm going to damage the second flap. the photos are typical Avedon; great, incisive, not always flattering but powerful.
September 6, 2010
simply stunning and inspirational as someone drawn toward creative portraiture. this is a great collection
Want to read
December 7, 2010Innovator of modern fashion photography, can't want to read this
August 11, 2012
C'é poco da dire. Solo da avere.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews