Irving Penn’s dual Paris retrospective captures fashion’s defining moments

Irving Penn’s photographs move between abstraction and intimacy with the ease of a master who understood that fashion photography could be art photography, and that portraiture was ultimately about light, geometry and the human form stripped to its essence. Two concurrent exhibitions in Paris celebrate this visionary approach: The World According to Penn at Bourse de Commerce and Penn & Fashion at the MEP, both running through January 2027.

The photographs gathered here span decades of innovation. A 1949 portrait of Sophie Malgat, rendered in Penn’s characteristic high contrast black and white, captures the spare elegance that defined his fashion work in that era. Later, his 1950 image of a harlequin dress worn by Lisa Fonssagrives Penn, his wife and frequent muse, transforms a garment into sculptural form through the precision of his framing and lighting. By 1988, photographing Issey Miyake’s face covered with hair, Penn was still experimenting with abstraction and concealment, proving that his vision never calcified into formula.

The exhibitions extend beyond fashion into Penn’s broader visual philosophy. His 1994 study of a red lacquered lid, part of the MEP’s collection and gifted in part by the Irving Penn Foundation in 2020, demonstrates his ability to render the everyday object as something commanding and monumental. Each exhibition explores different facets of a singular vision: one that approached the photograph as a constructed space where form, light and human presence converge.

The World According to Penn runs at Bourse de Commerce through January 10, 2027. Penn & Fashion continues at the MEP through January 17, 2027.

Imagery courtesy of Pace Gallery (@pacegallery).