Irving Penn.Centennial by Fundación MOP
He was an icon of fashion photography and his revolutionary vision can now be remembered in Spain. The Marta Ortega Pérez Foundation (MOP Foundation) takes a further step in creating bridges between photography and fashion with the exhibition Irving Penn: Centennial. This is the largest retrospective dedicated to the talented American photographer ever presented in Spain. A symbolic exhibition that covers the 70 years of his prolific career, which has already been shown in New York, Paris and Berlin.
Irving Penn: Centennial is an exhibition organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in collaboration with the Irving Penn Foundation and curated by Jeff L. Rosenheim , Joyce Frank Menschel Curator in Charge of Photography at The Met . The exhibition can be visited free of charge until the 1st May 2025 at the MOP Foundation exhibition centre, located in the port area of A Coruña.
A journey into the soul of Irving Penn’s photography
Created in 2017 to mark the centenary of the artist’s birth, Irving Penn: Centennial is a tribute to his prolific career in all its breadth, from his beginnings in the late 1930s to the early years of the 21st century. What is most interesting about the exhibition is that it allows us to delve deeper into the photographer’s work beyond his best-known projects. This is precisely the aim of the exhibition: to cover all facets of Penn’s work, including fashion photography, delicate female nudes, floral compositions and still lifes, the still lifes of everyday objects that he was fond of throughout his life.
The exhibition also highlights the portraits of personalities who made him famous, such as his muse Lisa Fonssagrives, Pablo Picasso and Marlene Dietrich, as well as his photographic series documenting ordinary people captured in different corners of the world. It also includes unique pieces such as the backdrop of his studio and unpublished works that allow the visitor to delve into his creative process. Altogether, the exhibition brings together more than 160 works that offer a complete overview of the career of an artist who revolutionised the visual language of the 20th century.
Irving Penn.Centennial by Fundación MOP
A democratic look
The exhibition is the perfect excuse to decipher Irving Penn’s legacy and understand his role in fashion photography, a field that transcended to create a unique visual universe. His motto, “less is more”, remains a reference for artists and creatives, reminding us that beauty can be found in the essential and the simple.
Vogue magazine redefined visual standards through a style that combined simplicity with sophistication. His images, characterized by a minimalist use of space and neutral backgrounds, transformed the perception of commercial and fine art photography. With an avant-garde approach, Penn turned the everyday into art, immortalizing everything from iconic figures such as Audrey Hepburn and Miles Davis to objects as common as cigarette butts.
The exhibition also highlights his technical mastery: Penn revived techniques such as platinum-palladium printing and experimented with materials to achieve a unique quality in his photographs. Each image reveals his ability to capture the essence of his subjects, transcending documentation and creating pieces charged with emotion and symbolism.
Supplementary materials
To enrich the experience, the MOP Foundation has exclusively published a catalogue in Spanish of the exhibition, a must for admirers of Penn’s work and 20th-century photography. This volume brings together almost 300 images, including iconic and previously unpublished works, accompanied by essays that explore the main themes of his career.
In addition, as every year, visitors will be able to enjoy a new set designed specifically for the exhibition, both inside the warehouse and in the outer space. The venue has also reopened its bookstore, specialising in photography, fashion, design and other artistic disciplines.
A legacy that endures
Irving Penn: Centennial exhibition becomes the fourth major retrospective promoted by the MOP Foundation, reaffirming its commitment to photography, fashion and its connection with A Coruña. Since its creation, the Foundation has promoted highly relevant exhibitions, such as Peter Lindbergh. Untold Stories (2021-22), Steven Meisel 1993: A Year in Photographs (2022-23) and Helmut Newton: Fact & Fiction (2023-24).
Photos by:
Irving Penn. Picture of self, Cuzco, 1948© The Irving Penn Foundation
Irving Penn. Marlene Dietrich, New York, 1948 © The Irving Penn Foundation
Irving Penn. Woman in Chicken Hat (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn), New York, 1949 © The Irving Penn Foundation
Irving Penn. Naomi Sims in Scarf, New York, ca. 1969 © The Irving Penn Foundation
