FotoFocus: Arbus, Frank, Penn: Masterworks of Post-War American Photography

FotoFocus: Arbus, Frank, Penn: Masterworks of Post-War American Photography

October 1(Opening reception, 5:30-8 pm) – November 30, 2018.

Free with park admission, FotoFocus Pass, and Pyramid Hill membership.

Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, and Irving Penn were respected photojournalists with published work in fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. However, they would gain notoriety by turning their lens on the overlooked, unseen, and ostracized in society in the 1950s and 1960s. This post-war period was a time when photography was establishing itself as fine art, and their images would emerge as icons of the era.

“Arbus, Frank, Penn: Masterworks of Post-War American Photography” features 38 glorious vintage gelatin silver prints including Diane Arbus’s “Identical Twins, Roselle, N.J.,” “Boy with a Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park,” and “Jewish Giant at Home with his Parents in the Bronx”; Robert Frank’s “Trolley, New Orleans,” “Parade, Hoboken,” and “Chicago (Man with Tuba)”; and Irving Penn’s “Mountain Children, Cuzco, Peru,” “Chimney Sweep, London,” and “Running Children, Rabat, Morocco.”

The Irving Penns in this exhibit all date from the seminal period in his career 1948-51, and cover his three most important series from those years: the “small trades,” the “big nudes,” and the confrontational portraits of the mountain-top residents of Cuzco, Peru. The Robert Franks date from 1953-58 and feature some of the key works reproduced in The Americans, arguably the most influential photography book of the 20th century. The Diane Arbus images date from 1961-70 and include her most celebrated portraits.

“Arbus, Frank, Penn: Masterworks of Post-War American Photography” will be on display in an intimate setting in the Museum Gallery located inside of the Ancient Sculpture Museum at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum between October 1 and November 30, 2018. This exhibition is shown in partnership with Fotofocus Cincinnati.