"Brilliance and bravery. Those are my impressions from this tour of photographs - a history lesson in portraits that tells a story of the better part of a century through people, places, fashion, culture and art."
Anna Wintour
Venice - Palazzo Grassi
Chronorama - Photographic Treasures of the 20th Century
A Photography Exhibition of the Pinault Collection
At Palazzo Grassi the exhibition - Chronorama - Photographic Treasure of the 20th Century - curated by Matthieu Humery - until January 7 - show 409 works, from 1910 to 1979, presented chronologically and by decade, which illustrates the men, the women, the moments in history, the daily lives, the dreams, and the dramas of the twentieth century. These fragments of the past come from an extraordinary resource of exceptional richness: the archives of Condé Nast, partly acquired by the Pinault Collection in 2021. Condé Nast, one of the world’s largest press groups, currently owns twenty-five titles, including the iconic and historic Vogue, Vanity Fair, House & Garden, and the New Yorker. In dialogue with Chornorama is Chronorama Redoux site-specific works by four young artists who have been given carte blanche by the Pinault Collection to interpret the legacy of major photographs and of the Conde Nast archives in their own way.
Bert Stern
Jean Shrimpton and Sammy Davis Jr. - 1965
George Wolfe Plank
Woman standing in yellow ruffle gown with large white collar - Vogue - 1917
"A pioneer in the use of color photography in magazines in the 1930s but also in his approach to advertising, Condé Nast revolutionized the international press in several ways. The close collaboration with the artists of his time, which he established from the very beginnings of his empire, is an integral part of the group’s identity and has allowed some of the greatest talents of the twentieth century to emerge.
It is the quality of the works preserved that makes this archive invaluable. Many of the century’s great photographers started at Condé Nast before being exhibited and recognized as core figures within the art market. ....Even if their photograph was intended to be reproduced in a magazine, they treated their image as an art object in its own right. Thus, many of their works were mounted on a support or carefully signed and printed by their creator, as is normally done for a fine art print."
Matthieu Humery - Photography advisor for Pinault Collection
Andrew Cowen - Historical Consultant for Chronorama
Matthieu Humery
curator
Adolf de Meyer
Young girl sitting on a small table besides a globe - Vogue - 1919
" New York had all the iridescence of the beginning of the world. The returning troops marched up Fifth Avenue and girls were instinctively drawn east and north towards them - we were at last admittedly the most powerful nation and there
was gala in the air."
F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
My lost City
The 1920s - Modern Iridescence
Edward Streichen
The right costume for travel, Hannah Lee Sherman wearing a Chanel tweed coat Vogue - 1928
Copyright Conde Nast - Courtesy - Palazzo Grassi
George Hoyningen-Huene
A Sculpture by Siegel - Vogue 1928
Edward Steichen
Actor Douglas Fairbanks - Vanity Fair -1924
The historical selection of Chronorama is put into perspective with 'Chronorama Redux', a project offering a contemporary look at the works from the Pinault Collection through the work of four artists: Tarrah Krajnak, Eric N. Mack, Giulia Andreani, and Daniel Spivakov. The works are spread along the photographic path as interludes in the chronological rhythm. Chronorama Redux offers a contemporary look at the works of the exhibition.
Daniel Spivakov
When Ukraine born Daniel Spivakov moved to Oklahoma - he could only speak his native language - it was during this time that art became a critical vessel of communication for him.
volatilization of the world, for introspection, for lyricism,
for the return of the classified, appeared romanticism,
for the slow cadence of dreams."
Alexandre Arnaux
Vogue January 1930
The 1930s - A Cosmopolitan Dream
Sherril Schell
The Empire State Building - New York City - Vanity Fair - 1930
Artist Marcel Vertes and his model - Vanity Fair - 1935
Constantin Brancusi - attributed to -
Self-portrait in the Atelier - Vanity Fair - 1934
Model wearing a white chiffon tea gown embroidered with leaves - Vogue - 1932
The 3 - Nyholm, Phillips and Lincoln
Aquarium filled with crystal geometric forms and goldfish
House and Garden - 1932
A portrait of fashion journalist John McMullin - Vogue - 1932
"The New year dawns on a world embattled and bleeding.
What is Vogue's place in such a world. What part do we play in this scene of high drama, grim tragedy? Where do we come in?"
Vogue January 1941
Irving Penn in his American Field Service uniform - Vogue - 1945
Toni Frissell
WAAC - Women's Army Auxiliary Corps - officers sitting under hair dryers
Vogue - 1943
Marlene Dietrich - New York - Vogue - 1948
Chronorama Redoux
Tarrah Krajnak
Born in Peru, Tarrah Krajnak is an artist working across photography, performance and poetry.
while looking back."
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
The 1950s - Idealism and Realism
Irving Penn
Girl in Bath - Jean Patchett - New York - Vogue - 1950
Suzy Parker
Snapshot of her famous sister Dorian Leigh - Vogue - 1954
Jean Howard
Orson Welles - Vogue 1953
Paul Himmel
The Isetta car parked besides the glass-stair-railed apartment Moretti - Vogue 1954
"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing
can be changed until it is faced."
James Baldwin
The 1960s - Radical Departures
Franco Rubartelli
Veruschka with actors Max Brunell and Carlo Ortiz - Italy - Vogue - 1969
Jeanne Moreau - Vogue - 1962
Marcello Mastroianni - Vogue 1962
Black Star
Astronauts of Apollo 8 in their space suits - Vogue 1968
Irving Penn
Josef Albers and Jasper Johns - Vogue - 1964
Giulia Andreani
Venetian born Giulia Andreani's practice is rooted in historical stories - fragile stories or tragedies on a human scale - that she uncovers through her research and the archives she collects.
"Hey, before you abuse, Criticize and accuse, walk a mile in my shoes."
Joe South and the Believers
"Walk a Mile in my Shoes
The 1970s - Glamour and Grit
Helmut Newton
David Hockney - Vogue - 1975
World Champion bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger - Vogue - 1975
Model Esme Marshall wearing a white strapless one-piece swimsuit - Vogue - 1979
Singer Eric Mercury - Vogue - 1970
Chronorama Redoux
Eric N. Mack
American born Eric N. Mack uses fabric and other found objects to create richly textured arrangements that collapse the boundaries between fashion, architecture and fine art.
