Vanity Fair Portraits
From 14 February – 26 May, the National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting a very special exhibition. Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913 – 2008 is the first exhibition to bring together rare vintage prints with contemporary classics from Vanity Fair and the legendary Condé Nast Archive.
Some of the greatest portrait photographs of the 20th century were taken for, or published in, Vanity Fair. This fascinating selection of 150 classic images features works from the magazine’s first period (1913 – 1936), displayed for the first time with works from the contemporary Vanity Fair (1983 – present).
In the magazine’s first period, celebrities including Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplain and Jean Harlow are shown in portraits by legendary photographers including Edward Steichen, Cecil Beaton, Baron De Meyer, Man Ray and George Hurrell.
After Vanity Fair’s re-launch in 1983, photographers including Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, Bruce Weber and Mario Testino have photographed everyone from Arthur Miller to Madonna.
As well as showing the works of some of the world’s best-known photographers, Vanity Fair Portraits presents a rare opportunity to see some of the definitive portraits of the Jazz Age, including now classic portraits of Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker and Noël Coward. This collection also includes some previously unpublished and unseen images, including 2 portraits of Virginia Woolf from 1924.
The Vanity Fair Portraits exhibition is a great opportunity to see some of the most iconic images of the 20th century, including cover images of the Regans dancing (1985), a very pregnant Demi Moore (1991), a formal portrait of President Bush’s Afghan War Cabinet (2002) and most recently actresses Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley photographed naked (2006).
For more information on the exhibition, visit National Portrait Gallery – Vanity Fair Portraits (www.npg.org.uk/vanityfair/index.htm).