Irving Penn: Paintings

An insightful volume on the rarely seen paintings of acclaimed photographer Irving Penn. Internationally celebrated as one of the great photographers of the twentieth century, Irving Penn (1917–2009) initially set out to be a painter. Near the age of seventy, Penn resumed the practice after a forty-year hiatus and produced more than two hundred bold and innovative mixed-media paintings. Relatively unknown, this work has remained largely out-of-view, until now. Drawing from the holdings of The Irving Penn Foundation, this exquisite catalogue showcases 39 of Penn’s remarkable paintings, many published for the first time. Beautifully produced, Irving Paintings coincides with the first-ever exhibition dedicated to this body or work, and contains the first scholarship on this aspect of his creative life. David Campany’s introduction positions the paintings in relation to Penn’s photographs and examines connections with artists Marcel Duchamp and Walker Evans. Alexandra Dennett’s essay provides a careful account of Penn’s formative years, his lifelong creative influences, and the various techniques he used to make his singular paintings.