A Tribute through Portrait

Throughout the 20^th Century, Richard Avedon was hailed for his unique portraiture, capturing the raw essence of the American people.

Perhaps some of his most captivating portraits are those he took in the early 1970’s of his dying father. The collection, simply titled Jacob Israel Avedon, is hauntingly beautiful and personal. The minimalist images reveal not only the man in his last years, but also the photographer’s reverence for the subject.

Richard Avedon was born in New York City in 1923 and began his photography career taking identification pictures for the crewmen of the Merchant Marines in 1942. He worked for years as a fashion photographer for magazines such as Vogue, Life, and Harper’s, eventually hired as a staff photographer for Vogue. He is responsible for most of the covers of that magazine printed between 1973 and 1988.

Other Richard Avedon collections have been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country, including San Francisco, Berkeley, and Minneapolis.

Sources:

The Richard Avedon Foundation

The Jewish Museum. Collection:  Jacob Israel Avedon”.

Vogue.com UK. Biography:  “Richard Avedon”. 22 April 2008.
Photographs:

The Jewish Museum. Collection: “Jacob Israel Avedon”.

Pace Macgill.  www.pacemacgill.com