Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty, organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, is the first retrospective of Penn’s work in nearly twenty years. The exhibition presents over 140 photographs including iconic images from his oeuvre as well as previously unseen or never exhibited photographs. Irving Penn (1917–2009) is one of the best-known American photographers of the 20th century. In a career that spanned almost seventy years, Penn worked on professional and artistic projects across multiple genres. He was a master of both black-and-white and color photography, and he was key to the revival of platinum printing in the 1960s and 1970s.
Irving Penn, Mouth (for L’Oréal), New York, 1986, printed 1992, dye transfer print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Irving Penn Foundation, © The Irving Penn Foundation; Irving Penn, Bedside Lamp, New York, 2006, Inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Irving Penn Foundation, © The Irving Penn Foundation