Ponti

Milan – Richard Avedon arrives in Milan simultaneously with the September Fashion Week: more than 100 shots will tell the 60-year career of the famous photographer at Palazzo Reale in an exhibition born from the collaboration with the Richard Avedon Foundation and the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, USA. Milestones in the history of fashion and portraits of great power will transport visitors into the glamorous world of the American master, highlighting the choices and innovations that have made him one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century. While Avedon revolutionized fashion photography by transforming models from static subjects into actresses on a set, on the other hand his black and white portraits, often in large format, have managed to reveal the intimate and personal dimension of celebrities. otherwise unattainable.

At the Royal Palace we will discover it in a spectacular series of images, ranging from the Beatles to Marilyn, from Sofia Loren to the Dalai Lama, up to an unpublished Andy Warhol, who exposes his gunshot scars in front of Avedon after surviving the attempt to homocide. Particularly interesting are the cases in which the photographer returns to portray the same subject years later: it happens with the painter Jasper Johns and with the beat poet Allen Ginsberg, but above all with his friend Truman Capote, the protagonist of a prolonged photographic relationship. to discover. And speaking of portraits, it is impossible not to mention the very famous shot dedicated to Nastassja Kinski in 1981, chosen as the guiding image of the exhibition: with the actress lying softly on the floor and embraced by a snake, this photo is a remarkable example of the approach of Avedon to his subjects. The white background eliminates any possible distraction by highlighting pose, gestures and expression: the interaction between figure and void, between body and space is the key to the power of the image, which is shot at close range, giving the viewer an unexpected intimacy with the model.

Richard Avedon, Self.portrait, Provo, Utah, August 20 1980 © The Richard Avedon Foundation

For fans of fashion photography, the Milanese exhibition will be a mine of surprises. We will have the opportunity to follow the complete evolution of Avedon’s art in the field of fashion, from the first shots made for magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, in which the photographer seems to stage a story, to those of maturity, where the dress and the body become absolute protagonists. Witnesses of this journey will be top models who have written the history of fashion, such as Dovima, Twiggy, Veruschka, Linda Evangelista, Christy Thurlington, Kate Moss, while a special section will be dedicated to Avedon’s relationship with Versace, a long and fruitful partnership that he produced images destined to survive time.

Accompanied by a catalog published by Skira with contributions by James Martin, Donatella Versace, Rebecca Senf, Maria Luisa Frisa, Richard Avedon. Relationships it will be open to the public at the Royal Palace from 22 September 2022 to 29 January 2023.

Richard Avedon, Dovima with elephants, evening dress by Dior, 1955 © The Richard Avedon Foundation