George Hoyningen Huene. Art. Fashion.Cinema

The brilliant fashion photographer is the protagonist of a prestigious exhibition hosted at the Museo di Roma - Palazzo Braschi, which, through over 100 photos, depicts the refined and timeless elegance of a master of the lens 125 years after his birth.

Curated by Susanna Brown, the exhibition path, for the first time in Rome, explores the career and elegant creative universe of George Hoyningen-Huene between platinum prints and shots that combine classical and avant-garde art.

The images are astonishing testimonies of the style and innovative techniques of the artist who revolutionised the aesthetics of photography, chief photographer of French Vogue from 1926 to 1936. Surrealist influences, portraits of artists and celebrities, and collaborations with iconic haute couture legends such as Chanel, Balenciaga, Schiaparelli and Cartier are unveiled in an evocative visual journey through ten different thematic sections: George Hoyningen-Huene: Visions of an Era; Between Jazz and Ballets Russes: Dreams of Beauty in the City of Light; Beachwear and the Fascination of the Ideal Body; Reflections of Antiquity; Mirages of Light: Huene’s Visual Odyssey; Sculptures of Light: the Male Nude between Classical and Modern; The Essence of Dreams: Huene, Chanel, and the influence of Surrealism; Star Models: New Icons of Modernity; The Fashion of Harper’s Bazaar; Hollywood and the Allure of Cinema.

The photos on display include iconic portraits of personalities such as the photographers Horst P. Horst and Lee Miller, one of the exhibition's protagonists, Jean Cocteau, Agneta Fischer, Ingrid Bergman, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Ava Gardner, Katharine Hepburn, Josephine Baker, Jean Barry, Salvador Dalì, Pablo Picasso, Paul Eluard and the etoiles Serge Lifar and Olga Spessivtzeva.

The exhibition is promoted by Roma Capitale, Assessorato alla Cultura, Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali and realised by CMS.Cultura, under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and the Institut Français Italia, in collaboration with the George Hoyningen-Huene Archive (Stockholm, Sweden).

Photo: George Hoyningen-Huene, Sonia Colmer, Vionnet Pyjamas 1, 1931 © George Hoyningen-Huene Estate Archives