Irving Penn was one of the 20th century’s greatest photographers. He is rightly celebrated for his meticulous approach, his minimalist style, masterful printmaking, and bold artistic experiments.
Penn possessed the uncanny ability to infuse his photographs with a sense of timelessness and narrative depth, no matter whether he was capturing the weary eyes of labourers, the serene beauty of fashion models, or the poignancy of ageing flowers. His work is characterised by a relentless pursuit of perfection and an unerring eye for detail, which extended to his meticulous approach to printmaking.
Designers
As the preeminent photographer at Vogue, Penn was uniquely placed to create a record of 20th-century cultural history. The exhibition presents Penn’s photographs of such leading lights of the screen as Marlene Dietrich and Audrey Hepburn, renowned designers Gianni Versace, Issey Miyake and Yves Saint Laurent, and important writers and artists such as Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Salvador Dali, Zaha Hadid and Richard Avedon.
Pablo Picasso at La Californie, Cannes, 1957
Platinum-palladium print, 1985
18 ⅝ × 18 ⅝ in. (47.3 × 47.3 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Promised Gift of The Irving Penn Foundation
© The Irving Penn Foundation
But Penn’s egalitarian spirit and heightened photographic sensitivity made his portraits of everyday people—tradespeople, street vendors, and residents of Cuzco, Peru—equally moving and powerful.
Expression
Penn was a regular contributor to Vogue magazine for more than seven decades, during which he revolutionised fashion photography, positioning models against neutral backdrops to emphasise fabrics, gesture and expression. His fashion work not only redefined the genre but also set new standards for artistic and technical excellence.
Although best known for his psychologically penetrating portraits, Penn was a prolific artist whose career spanned seventy years and a wide array of interests. Irving Penn: Centennial captures every period of that dynamic career behind the camera, beginning in the late 1930s and continuing into the first decade of the 21st century.
Organised by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and presented exclusively in Spain at the MOP Foundation space in A Coruña, Galicia, the exhibition presents a rich tapestry of Penn’s photography, bringing together some 175 works—including Penn’s portraits of celebrities, cultural luminaries, and labourers with the tools of their trades; abstract nudes and early documentary street scenes; compositions of flowers, signage, and street debris; fashion studies and meticulous still lives.
Marlene Dietrich, New York, 1948
Gelatin silver print, 2000
10 × 8 1/8 in. (25.4 × 20.6 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Promised Gift of The Irving Penn Foundation
© The Irving Penn Foundation
Irving Penn: Centennial is the fourth in a series of world class exhibitions presented by the MOP Foundation whose President, Marta Ortega Pérez, says “Irving Penn’s image making is exemplary. In Penn’s hands the everyday becomes extraordinary, revealing the profound beauty in simplicity. His work does more than capture moments; it captures the essence of his subjects.”
Retrospective
Opening to the public at the MOP Foundation on 23 November 2024 and running through until 1st May 2025, Irving Penn: Centennial is the most comprehensive retrospective of the renowned photographer to date, revealing his extraordinary artistic versatility and range. The MOP Foundation will publish a Spanish-language edition of the exhibition catalogue. Irving Penn: Centennial was originally published in English, French, German, and Portuguese by The Met in 2017.
Exhibition Details:
Title: Irving Penn: Centennial
Dates: November 23, 2024–May 1, 2025
Location: MOP Foundation, A Coruña, Spain
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