One of the 20th century’s greatest photographers.
Irving Penn at the de Young includes approximately 175 photographs, spanning every period of Penn’s nearly 70-year career. Vogue’s longest-standing contributor, Irving Penn revolutionized fashion photography in the postwar era.

Using neutral backgrounds, he emphasized models’ personalities through their gestures and expressions. The works range from early documentary scenes, celebrity portraits, and workers with the tools of their trades to abstract nudes and fashion studies. A special section of images from San Francisco’s Summer of Love features hippies, members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, and local rock bands the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company.

Reviews
A reminder—should we need it—of his enduring genius.
—Mark Holgate, Vogue

A must-see for photography fans or for anyone who wants to see an intimate view of the personalities he captured.
—Tony Bravo, San Francisco Chronicle

Bold, graphic, sensuous, witty, refined.
—Bruce Handy, Vanity Fair

Irving Penn at the de Young details
Through July 21, 2024
At the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, SF

Tuesdays through Sundays
9:30 AM to 5:15 PM

Learn more, purchase tickets, and plan your visit on the de Young website.

Photo credit: Irving Penn, Audrey Hepburn, Paris, 1951. Gelatin silver print, 13 3/4 x 13 7/16 in. (35 x 34.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of The Irving Penn Foundation, 2021, 2021.72.5. © Condé Nast