Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs
1913–2008

October 26, 2008–March 1, 2009 | Hammer Building

Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913–2008 is the first major exhibition to bring together the magazine's historic archive of rare vintage prints with its contemporary photographs. The exhibition explores the ways in which photography and celebrity have interacted and changed, with portraits from the magazine's early period (1913–1936) displayed in conjunction with works from the contemporary Vanity Fair (1983–present). The Los Angeles presentation, which is sponsored by Burberry, will be the only U.S. stop on the exhibition's international tour. Photographers to be represented include Cecil Beaton, Harry Benson, Julian Broad, Imogen Cunningham, Annie Leibovitz, Man Ray, Mary Ellen Mark, Steven Meisel, Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, Edward Steichen, Mario Testino, and Bruce Weber.

Curators: Terence Pepper, curator of photographs, National Portrait Gallery, and David Friend, editor of creative development, Vanity Fair. Curator at LACMA: Charlotte Cotton, photography.

A collaboration between Vanity Fair and the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Sponsored by

Vanity Fair is a registered trademark of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc.

Edward Steichen, A Much Screened Lady—Gloria Swanson, 1924 (detail),© Condé Nast Publications Inc./Courtesy George Eastman House.

Nickolas Muray, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr and Joan Crawford, Santa Monica, 1929, Vanity Fair, October 1929, © Condé Nast Publications Inc./Courtesy Condé Nast Archive.

Public Programs

Film: Pretty Things
October 26 | 1 pm | Bing Theater

Talk: From Burlesque to Couture
November 17 | 7:30 pm | Bing Theater

Film: Grey Gardens
January 11 | 1 pm | Bing Theater

Film: Thin
February 8 | 1 pm | Bing Theater

Film: Model
February 22 | 1 pm | Brown Auditorium

Panel Discussion: Constructing Celebrity
February 24 | 7 pm | Brown Auditorium

Order the exhibition book