Irving Penn’s photography is showed in it’s largest retrospective yet. Following his death in 1997 aged 92, the Irving Penn Foundation has donated 100 pieces of his work to join the Smithsonian’s already 140 piece strong collection. The result will be an exhibition of both well known and never seen before works that reflect the entirety of his career. Entitled Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty, it is an aptly named celebration of an artist who made us all look beyond the beauty to the people on the other side. It’s a lesson we could all do well to remember.

 Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty end at the Smithsonian Museum on 30th March 2016

 “Young Boy, Pause Pause,” American South, 1941
Portrait of Salvador Dali, New York, 1947
“Girl Behind Bottle (Jean Patchett),” New York, 1949
“Kerchief Glove (Dior),” Paris, 1950
“Head in Ice,” New York, 2002
“Frozen Foods,” New York, 1977
Truman Capote, New York, 1979
“Issey Miyake Fashion: White and Black,” New York, 1990
“Ball Dress by Olivier Theyskens for Nina Ricci,” New York, 2007 

Photo Courtesy of Condenast, Smithsonian Museum, The Irving Penn Foundation