Sunrise

Sunset

A 30-second online art project:

Peter Burr, Sunshine Monument

Learn more

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

Skip to main content

Irving Penn
1917–2009

Introduction

Irving Penn (June 16, 1917 – October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at Vogue magazine, and independent advertising work for clients including Issey Miyake and Clinique. His work has been exhibited internationally and continues to inform the art of photography.

Wikidata identifier

Q318604

View the full Wikipedia entry

Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Accessed March 30, 2024.

Introduction

Penn was a prolific and influential photographer of fashion and celebrity. He worked for Vogue magazine from 1943, producing over 150 cover images. He produced still lifes, nudes, and portraiture for exhibition outside of his commercial work, and was instrumental in the revival of the platinum print process. He married the model Lisa Fonssagrives, whom he photographed professionally, in 1950. He is known as much for his privately produced portraits of ordinary people as well as portraiture of notable figures produced for his employer, the publisher Condé-Nast.

Country of birth

United States

Roles

Artist, commercial artist, fashion photographer, painter, photographer

ULAN identifier

500016471

Names

Irving Penn

View the full Getty record

Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed March 30, 2024.