"The Public Portrait: Photographs by Edward Steichen, Richard Avedon, and Irving Penn"
2000-07-09 until 2000-10-22
Museum of Fine Art Houston
Houston, TX, USA

The portrait conceived specifically for public display is one of the oldest pictorial genres. The subjects of public portraits are often famous -- in the news because of their talent, intellect, wit, or power. In creating a public portrait, an artist is challenged to invent a fresh appearance for a familiar visage.

American photographers Edward Steichen (1879 -- 1973), Richard Avedon (born 1923), and Irving Penn (born 1917) are among the 20th century's greatest portraitists. Working both independently and for major magazines such as Vanity Fair, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and the New Yorker, each has developed a striking, signature style. The Public Portrait features their incisive and engaging portrayals of eminent personalities from the 1920s to today: movie stars (including Greta Garbo and Douglas Fairbanks); artists and composers (Auguste Rodin and Igor Stravinsky); writers (Sherwood Anderson and H. L. Mencken); politicians (Winston Churchill and Ann Richards); and royalty (the duke and duchess of Windsor), selected from the MFAH collection.

Baron Adolf de Meyer, Baroness Olga de Meyer, c. 1900,
Platinum photograph,
The Museum of Fine Arts,Houston,
The Sonia and Kaye Marvins Portrait Collection,
museum purchase with funds
provided by Sonia and Kaye Marvins.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of Texas

Other Important Exhibitions in Houston