Irving Penn’s Portraits

Cecil Beaton with Nude, New York, 1946
The Irving Penn Foundation © The Irving Penn Foundation

Marlene Dietrich, New York, 1948
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Gift of Irving Penn
© Condé Nast Publications, Inc.

Alfred Hitchcock, New York, 1947
National Portrait Gallery, London © Condé Nast Publications, Inc.

Harlequin Dress (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn), New York, 1950

The Irving Penn Foundation © Condé Nast Publications, Inc.

Right now (and until June 6th) the National Portrait Gallery in London is showing a major retrospective exhibition of some of the most iconic portraits by the legendary photographer Irving Penn, who sadly passed away in 2009.

The exhibition focuses on Penn’s portraits of major cultural figures of the last seven decades and will include 120 pieces. Apart from those shown here, you will also find portraits of Ingmar Bergman, Simone de Beauvoir, Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior and Edith Piaf (just to name a few).