In 1913, Vanity Fair launched with the birth of modernism, the dawning of the Jazz Age, and the groundbreaking Armory Show that introduced avant-garde art to the American public. Publisher Condé Nast (1873–1942) partnered with editor Frank Crowninshield (1872–1947) to create a magazine that would engage with this vibrant modern culture—a magazine that would not only comment upon, but also champion all that was at the forefront of change and innovation in the arts.
The publication thus became a cultural catalyst, defining and celebrating key figures of the early twentieth century, from contemporary artists and literary talents to theater luminaries and silent-screen stars. To rightfully capture these icons, Crowninshield commissioned the world’s leading photographers including Edward Steichen, Cecil Beaton, Baron De Meyer, Man Ray, and George Hurrell. The pairing of notable figures with these portraitists resulted in some of the most memorable images of the time. Among the exceptional sitters featured in the exhibition are Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein, Jesse Owens, James Joyce, Katharine Hepburn, and Fred and Adele Astaire.
The move to modernism in the early twentieth century influenced the era’s photographers, as many produced images that were as much about form and experimenting with format as they were about substance. The introduction of modernism into photography was particularly evident in the progressive work of Edward Steichen (1879–1973), who held the title of Vanity Fair’s chief photographer for thirteen years. Steichen was America’s leading photographer of style, taste, and celebrity, and perhaps best remembered for capturing actors, whose likenesses in print or on-screen helped shape popular culture. Many of Steichen’s iconic photographs will be seen in Vanity Fair Portraits, including those of Gloria Swanson, Louise Brooks, Anna May Wong, and Paul Robeson. The exhibition also showcases definitive portraits of the Jazz Age, including now classic studies of Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, and Noel Coward.
Although Vanity Fair suspended publication in 1936, it would be resurrected in another period of decadence and excess—the 1980s—when Silicon Valley and Wall Street were buoyant, high society was in full swing, and the art market was exploding. Relaunched in 1983, the publication’s purpose once again was to define contemporary celebrity and identify the leading cultural figures. As in the early period, portrait photography was the graphic bedrock of the magazine. In the tradition of Frank Crowninshield, the revived magazine commissioned such leading photographers as Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, Nan Goldin, Herb Ritts, Harry Benson, Mario Testino, and Bruce Weber. Once again, these portraitists photographed cultural icons, but in a new period of celebrity and magazine culture. New platforms arose for entertainment and information–the CD and camcorder, satellite television, the personal computer, and MTV. Media consumers, in turn, became increasingly preoccupied with the figures that permeated the video clips, audio streams, and computer and movie screens. In this media-entrenched age, the news cycle continually became shortened, and even at a time when the news was frequently measured in minutes, Vanity Fair managed to break news as a monthly publication with exclusive access to interviews and photo shoots. In 2005 alone, the magazine revealed the identity of Deep Throat, the confidential source of the Watergate scandal, and also published the first interview with actress Jennifer Aniston after her publicly scrutinized separation from actor Brad Pitt. Since the magazine’s relaunch, various cover images have made news, including presidential couple Nancy and Ronald Reagan dancing in their formal evening attire (1985), a disrobed and pregnant Demi Moore (1991), a formal portrait of President Bush’s Afghan- War Cabinet (2002), and most recently actresses Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley posing naked with designer Tom Ford (2006).
The name of one photographer in particular has become synonymous with Vanity Fair and contemporary celebrity — Annie Leibovitz. Just as Edward Steichen dominated Vanity Fair’s first incarnation, Leibovitz elaborately chronicles today’s version of celebrity.
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With 100,000 objects dating from ancient times to the present, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is the largest art museum in the western United States. A museum of international stature as well as a vital part of Southern California, LACMA shares its vast collections through exhibitions, public programs, and research facilities.
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