Earthly Bodies Irving Penn's Nudes, 1949-1950

One of the worlds preeminent photographers, Irving Penn is famous for portraiture, still life, and other commercial work. He is less well known as a superb photographer of the female nude. His most important pictures in this genre were made in 1949-50 during intense sessions with artists models that were essentially an artistic antidote to the ephemeral fashion world. Charged with powerful, physical, and sexual energy, yet somehow chaste, the images are among the most ambitious and successful nudes ever made. Sequenced to reveal the artists progressive exploration of his theme, the photographs constitute a remarkable wholea frieze of life based on a love affair with earthly goddesses.Penn, Irving is the author of 'Earthly Bodies Irving Penn's Nudes, 1949-1950', published 2002 under ISBN 9780821227879 and ISBN 0821227874.