Horst: photographer of style

Abstract

This book is the definitive celebration of the extraordinary photographic career of Horst P. Horst (1906 - 99). One of Vogue's most prolific and creative contributors, Horst worked in Paris and New York, photographing fashions by leading designers and making portraits of the century's stars. His important work made outside the realms of fashion photography is also included here. Horst excelled at nude studies and still-life photography, fusing Hellenic and Surrealist motifs and drawing inspiration from artists such as Salvador Dali. He captured the exquisite simplicity of natural forms - plants, shells and stones - transforming them into abstract kaleidoscopic collages. His little-known travel photographs reveal his fascination with ancient cultures, landscapes and architecture and, in later years, Horst photographed some of the world's most beautiful homes for Vogue and House & Garden. His work epitomizes the interconnections between art, fashion and high society. Today, Horst's photographs continue to inspire art directors and photographers, and he ranks alongside Irving Penn and Richard Avedon as one of the great masters of twentieth-century photography.

Contents

A lifetime of style / Anna Wintour -- Introduction / Susanna Brown -- 1. Paris style. 1930s Paris : fashion, art, elegance and imagination / Philippe Garner -- Electric beauty / Susanna Brown -- 2. Couture fashion in the 1930s. The aura of glamour : couture fashion / Claire Wilcox -- Mainboucher corset / Susanna Brown -- 3. Stage and screen. From limelight to starlight : portraits of stage and screen stars / Terence Pepper -- Marlene Dietrich / Susanna Brown -- 4. Horst and Britain. An English interlude / Robin Muir -- Royal still lifes / Susanna Brown -- 5. Fashion in colour. Horst's world in colour / Shawn Waldron -- Vogue covers -- 6. Nature. Patterns from nature / Martin Barnes -- Kodak negative album / Susanna Brown -- 7. Travel. Middle-Eastern diaries / Horst P. Horst and Valentine Lawford -- Persepolis Bull / Susanna Brown -- 8. The male nude. Hard bodies : male nudes / Oliver Winchester -- The classical torso / Susanna Brown -- 9. Living in style. Conversation pieces : interiors of Horst and Lawford / Glenn Adamson -- The house that Horst grew / Susanna Brown -- 10. Carmen : an interview / Susanna Brown.