Lillian Bassman

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Lillian Bassman
Born(1917-06-15)June 15, 1917
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 13, 2012(2012-02-13) (aged 94)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)fashion photographer, painter

Lillian Bassman (June 15, 1917 – February 13, 2012) was an American photographer and painter.

Early life and background[edit]

Her parents were Jewish intellectuals who emigrated to the United States from Ukraine (then in Russia) in 1905 and settled in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in Brooklyn and Greenwich Village, New York,[1] and studied at the Textile High School in Manhattan with future artist Alexey Brodovitch[2] and graduated in 1933.

Career[edit]

Bassman's photo Fantasy On The Dance Floor: Barbara Mullen in a Christian Dior Dress, Paris. First published in Harper's Bazaar in 1949.

From the 1940s until the 1960s Bassman worked as a fashion photographer and art director for Junior Bazaar[3][4] and Harper's Bazaar[3][5] where she promoted the careers of photographers such as Richard Avedon, Robert Frank, Louis Faurer and Arnold Newman. Under the guidance of the Russian emigrant, Alexey Brodovitch, she began to photograph her model subjects primarily in black and white. Her work was published for the most part in Harper's Bazaar from 1950 to 1965.[3]

By the 1970s Bassman's interest in pure form in her fashion photography was out of vogue. She turned to her own photo projects and abandoned fashion photography. In doing so she tossed out 40 years of negatives and prints—her life's work. A forgotten bag filled with hundreds of images was discovered over 20 years later. Bassman's fashion photographic work began to be re-appreciated in the 1990s.[6][7]

She worked with digital technology and abstract color photography into her nineties to create a new series of work. She used Photoshop for her image manipulation.[6]

The most notable qualities about her photographic work are the high contrasts between light and dark, the graininess of the finished photos, and the geometric placement and camera angles of the subjects. Bassman became one of the last great woman photographers in the world of fashion. A generation later, Bassman's pioneering photography and her mentor Alexey Brodovitch's bold cropping and layout innovations were a seminal influence on Sam Haskins and his black and white work of the sixties

Bassman was featured in the 2010 Swedish Halle of Femmes book, Hall of Femmes: Lillian Bassman,[8][9] and even after her death her work has been exhibited internationally.[10][11]

Bassman died on February 13, 2012, at age 94.[1][12]

Personal life[edit]

She first met her future husband, photographer Paul Himmel (born 1914), at Coney Island at age six. They met again at 13, and started living together when she was 15. They were married in 1935, and had two children.[1] Himmel died in 2009 after 73 years of marriage.[1][12]

Notable works[edit]

  • Anneliese Seubert, 1997[13]
  • It's a Cinch, 1951[13]
  • Betty Beihn, Nude I, 1950/2012[13]

Exhibitions (selection)[edit]

  • 1974 Staempfli Gallery, New York
  • 1993 Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York[14]
  • 1993 "Vanité", Palais de Tokyo
  • 1994 Jackson Fine Art Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
  • 1994 "Homage to Lillian Bassman," Caroussel du Louvre, Paris
  • 1997 Fashion Institute of Technology, New York
  • 1997 Peter Fetterman Gallery, Los Angeles[15]
  • 1999 "Les dames de Bazaar" Rencontres de la photographie, Arles
  • 2002 Garden Prado, Madrid
  • 2003 Galerie f5,6 in Munich, Germany[16]
  • 2004 Staley-Wise Gallery, New York[17]
  • 2005 Farmani Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
  • 2005 A touch of mystery - Triennale der Photographie Hamburg 2005, Photography Monika Mohr Galerie, Hamburg[18]
  • 2006 Selektion # 1 - Arbeiten in Schwarz/Weiß, Galerie f5,6, München
  • 2006 Retrospective, Peter Fetterman Gallery, Santa Monica, USA[19]
  • 2010 Retrospective, The Wapping Project, London, UK[20]
  • 2009-2010 Retrospective, The Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany[21]
  • 2014 "Signature of Elegance," Chanel Nexus Hall, Tokyo, Japan[10]
  • 2014–2015 Retrospective, KunstHausWien, Vienna, Austria[22][11]
  • 2016 Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York, USA[23][24][25][26][27][28]
  • 2021 The New Woman Behind the Camera, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York[29]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Horwell, Veronica (16 February 2012). "Lillian Bassman obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  2. ^ Neigher, Julie (7 February 2010). "Lillian Bassman, the return of an icon". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  3. ^ a b c Aletti, Vince (2006). "Junior Bazaar". Aperture (182): 54–61. ISSN 0003-6420. JSTOR 24473124. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  4. ^ Panzer, Mary (Fall 2011). "This Is The Photo League". Aperture. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024. ...Lillian Bassman, at the time the art editor of Jr. Bazaar...
  5. ^ Fairbanks, Daisy (17 July 2009). "Inspiration - Lillian Bassman". Daisy Fairbanks Vintage. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ a b Weinberg, Lauren (2010). "Lillian Bassman". www.theglassmagazine.com. 1 (1). Glass Ventures Ltd: 64–69. ISSN 2041-6318.
  7. ^ Aletti, Vince (1 July 1997). "In her fashion". The Village Voice. Vol. 42, no. 26. p. 107. ISSN 0042-6180. ProQuest 232177897.
  8. ^ Bouabana, Samira; Tillman Sperandio, Angela (2010). Hall of Femmes: Lillian Bassman. Translated by Elena Tillman Sperandio. Oyster Press. ISBN 9789197882712. OCLC 939055063.
  9. ^ "25-Plus Books on Women in Design". Designers & Books. 15 March 2023 [8 October 2013]. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  10. ^ a b Kumagai, Nao (20 March 2014). "シャネル、リリアン・バスマン写真展を銀座＆京都で開催" [Chanel to hold Lillian Bassman photo exhibition in Ginza and Kyoto]. Fashion Headline (in Japanese). Japan. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Ausstellungstipp Wien: Zwei Leben für die Mode" [Exhibition Tip Vienna: Two Lives for Fashion]. Harper's Bazaar (in German). 16 October 2014. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  12. ^ a b Grimes, William (13 February 2012). "Lillian Bassman, Fashion and Fine-Art Photographer, Dies at 94". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  13. ^ a b c Friedewald, Boris (2014). Women Photographers: From Julia Margaret Cameron to Cindy Sherman. Munich: Prestel. pp. 34–37. ISBN 978-3-7913-4814-8. OCLC 864503297 – via Internet Archive.
  14. ^ Hagen, Charles (1 January 1993). "Art in Review". The New York Times. pp. C.24. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 428894697. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Peter Fetterman Gallery Presents 'Lillian Bassman: Women'". Design Taxi. 2 November 2009. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  16. ^ "Lillian Bassman | Biography". Galerie f5,6. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Lillian Bassman | Then and Now (2004)". Staley-Wise Gallery. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  18. ^ "Lillian Bassman & Paul Himmel Retrospective at The Deichtorhallen Hamburg". Art Knowledge News. 4 January 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  19. ^ "Current Exhibition - Lillian Bassman (A Retrospective) - January 14 – May 13, 2006". Peter Fetterman Gallery. Archived from the original on 3 February 2006.
  20. ^ Field, Andy (10 December 2023). "'Photography 1948-2010: Women' at the Wapping Project Bankside". Run Riot. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  21. ^ Bellafante, Ginia (16 June 2009). "Femininity, Salvaged". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  22. ^ "Lillian Bassman & Paul Himmel. Two Lives for Photography". KunstHausWien. 2014–2015. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  23. ^ Eckardt, Steph (31 May 2016). "Revisit a Lifetime of Fashion Photography with Lillian Bassman". W Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  24. ^ Feitelberg, Rosemary (6 May 2016). "Lillian Bassman's Photography to Be Showcased at Edwynn Houk Gallery". Women's Wear Daily. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  25. ^ Crager, Jack (11 May 2016). "Lillian Bassman's Abstract, Re-Imagined Fashion Photography". Popular Photography. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  26. ^ "Lillian Bassman (Edwynn Houk Gallery)". Monovisions. 1 June 2016. Archived from the original on 6 December 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  27. ^ "Lillian Bassman: A Visionary in the World of Fashion". ABC News (Slide show). 2016. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  28. ^ "Lillian Bassman | 12 May - 15 July 2016". Edwynn Houk Gallery. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  29. ^ McKeon, Lucy (14 September 2021). "The Women Who Reshaped Modern Photography". Aperture. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2024.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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