A Collection of Horst P. Horst Classics (1930s)

Horst P. Horst (1906 – 1999) was a German-American fashion photographer. His first exhibition took place at La Plume d’Or in Paris in 1932. It was reviewed by Janet Flanner in The New Yorker, and this review, which appeared after the exhibition ended, made Horst instantly prominent.

Horst made a portrait of Bette Davis the same year, the first in a series of public figures he would photograph during his career. Within two years, he had photographed Noël Coward, Yvonne Printemps, Lisa Fonssagrives, Count Luchino Visconti di Madrone, Duke Fulco di Verdura, Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, Princess Natalia Pavlovna Paley, Daisy Fellowes, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, Cole Porter, Elsa Schiaparelli, and others like Eve Curie.

Horst rented an apartment in New York City in 1937, and while residing there met Coco Chanel, whom Horst called “the queen of the whole thing”. He would photograph her fashions for three decades.

Horst P. Horst, Mainbocher Corset, 1939 via

Horst P. Horst Classics, Lisa with Harp, 1939 via

Horst P. Horst Classics, Coco Chanel, Paris, 1937 via

Horst P. Horst Classics, Still Life, 1937 via

Amazing Vintage Photos of Fashion’s First Supermodel Lisa Fonssagrives

Swedish fashion model Lisa Fonssagrives (1911 – 1992) is widely credited as the world´s first supermodel. She was born Lisa Birgitta Bernstone and was  raised in Uddevalla.

She went to Mary Wigman’s school in Berlin and studied art and dance. After returning to Sweden, she opened a dance school.  She moved from Sweden to Paris to train for ballet and worked as a private dance teacher with Photographer Fernand Fonssagrives, which then led to a modeling career.

She married Fonssagrives in 1935; they divorced and she later married fashion photographer, Irving Penn, in 1950.

The Elton John photography collection auction held by Christie’s on October 15, 2004 sold a 1950 Irving Penn photograph of his wife, Lisa Fonssagrives, for $57,360.

VOGUE Cover, Lisa Fonssagrives by Horst P. Horst, 1940 via

Lisa Fonssagrives by Irving Penn, 1949

Lisa Fonssagrives by Lillian Bassman via

 

Lisa Fonssagrives by Irving Penn via

Lisa Fonssagrives, 1940’s via

Lisa Fonssagrives on the Eiffel Tower by Erwin Blumenfeld, Vogue, 1939 via

Lisa Fonssagrives Le Modele by Fernand Fonssagrives, 1942 via

A Collection of Vintage Fashion Photography From the 1950s

‘Black and White’, Mary Jane Russell, Le Pavillon, New York, Harper’s Bazaar, 1950 by Lillian Bassman via

Henry Clarke, Suzy Parker wearing Givenchy, 1952 via

Lisa Fonssagrives in Charles James Suit, photographed by Horst P. Horst for Vogue, 1950 via

Carmen Dell’Orefice in Paris, 1950s, photo by Richard Avedon via

Dorian Leigh wearing Madame Grés by Henry Clarke in 1955 via

Traina-Norell dress 1957, photo by Karen Radkai (model could be Sunny Harnett) via

Suzy Parker by Horst P.Horst (1954)

Horst P.Horst, Suzy Parker, August 1954

Vintage Photos of Glamorous 1950s Model Suzy Parker

When modeling agent Eileen Ford met the model Dorian Leigh’s fifteen-year-old redhead sister, in 1948, she ‘almost fainted with delight’. Suzy Parker became a prominent model of her times who, with her high dimpled cheeks, short flame hair and dark blue eyes, captured the attention of the most famous photographers such as Richard Avedon who believed ‘she was something else – a redheaded force of nature, a wolf in chic clothing, the one flesh-and-blood woman in a world of exquisite creatures’ (source).

Her modeling career reached its zenith during the 1950s. She appeared on the cover of dozens of magazines and in advertisements and starred in movie and television roles.

Suzy Parker in Harpers Bazaar, wearing a little feathery hat. Photograph by Richard Avedon via

 Suzy Parker for Mauboussin. Photograph by Henry Clarke, 1953 via

Suzy Parker 1955 in Lillian Bassman’s photograph The V‐Back Evenings. Lillian Bassman/Harper’s Bazaar via

Suzy Parker, Etole Leopard, Paris. Photograph by Georges Dambier, 1952 via

Suzy Parker wears Dior Haute Couture. American Vogue. Photograph by Horst P. Horst, 1952 via

Elsa Schiaparelli in Tunisia by Horst P. Horst (1936)

Elsa Schiaparelli, with a Bedouin dressmaker in Tunisia,1936 by Horst P.Horst via

Plant Still Lifes by Horst P. Horst (1945)

Horst P. Horst was a German-American fashion photographer. Horst is best known for his photographs of women and fashion, but is also recognized for his photographs of interior architecture, still lifes, especially ones including plants, and environmental portraits.

Horst P. Horst Cynara Scolymus (Artichoke), 1945 via

Horst P. Horst Victoria Regina Agave, 1945 via

Horst P. Horst Aednium Holochrrysum, 1945 via

Horst P. Horst Richardia Africana, New York, 1945 via