DeBoRaH soLomon
is the author
of Utopia Parkway: The Life and Work of Joseph Cornell and Jackson Pollock: A Biography. she writes the weekly
Introduction by
LiLLian Bassman
DeBoRaH soLomon
is a beloved figure in the pantheon of fashion pho-
“Questions For” column in the New York Times Magazine, where she is also known for her profiles of people in the art world. Previously, she was art critic for the Wall Street Journal. she lives in new York City.
LiLLian Bassman Women Introduction by
Deborah Solomon
tographers. Her signature style offers a sensuous and
no one else in the history of photography
intimate vision of modern women. in new York in the
has made visible that heart-breaking
1950s and 1960s, where sophisticated women were ex-
invisible place between the appearance
panding the scope of their lives while still being forced
and the disappearance of things.
into traditional feminine roles, Bassman sought, as she put it, “to photograph fashion with a woman’s eye for a
—richarD aveDon
woman’s intimate feelings.” as art historian and critic Deborah solomon says in her marvelous introduction,
bassman’s women—perennially soulful,
“The women who appear in her photographs tend to be
elusively chic—have the poignance of an
tall and attractive, and they have the kind of seductive
endangered species.
expression that comes from keeping secrets.”
—JuDith thurman Like her contemporaries Richard avedon and irving
140 tri-tone photographs 240 pages, 10 x 13" Hardcover with jacket
ISBN: 978-0-8109-8260-4 U.S. $50.00 Can. $64.99 U.K. £29.99
Penn, Bassman exploited the medium of fashion pho-
She grafted on to her innovations in
tography to capture a dream world of cool repose. so
romantic diffusion an idiosyncratic
strong is the pull of this vision that it has influenced the
vocabulary of gestures, translating
fashion designers themselves: John Galliano of Dior
couture with a sometimes unsettling edge.
has said of Bassman’s photographs, with their “painterly strokes of light,” that “it was this technique and
—martin harriSon
spirit that i wanted to capture in the dressmaking pro-
Photography Rights: World
cess.” The most desirable models of her time loved to
Pub month: October
work with her, and even agreed to pose in lingerie and in the nude, because they wanted to see themselves as
To place an order:
she would see them. Bassman turned away from fash-
Please call your sales representative
ion photography from the end of the 1960s until 1996,
or Hachette Book Group at 800.759.0190 or fax
when she began to accept new fashion assignments and
800.286.9471
to reprint her earlier photographs with an artist’s eye for emotional and formal expression, essentially creat-
To inquire about publicity:
ing the body of work for which she is famous today.
Please call 212.519.1232 or fax 212.366.0809
With more than 140 of her best images reproduced in
zAbrams
stunning tritone, including many never published be-
115 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011 www.abramsbooks.com
fore and others not seen since they appeared in the
LiLLian Bassman Women
pages of the legendary Harper’s Bazaar of the 1950s, Lillian Bassman: Women provides a retrospective view of an extraordinary career in photography
LILLIAN BASSMAN’S WOMEN ON THE VERGE The photographs of Lillian Bassman offer, among much else, a profusion of views of women in hats. This says something about the age in which she worked, a now-vanished, more formal era when a woman heading out on a winter evening was likely to put on the sort of hat that had nothing to do with warding off a cold. Bassman’s first professional photographs were taken with a borrowed camera circa 1947, and the hats worn by her models were designed to draw attention to a face – and to deflect attention from a face as well. More often than not, the hat is an instrument of concealment and veiling, a place to hide, a room of one’s own. There’s a startling photograph from 1950 – untitled, like most of her works – that surely qualifies as her most hat-centric. A woman in a wide-brimmed hat (the model was Mary Jane Russell) is shown in close-up, enshrouded in thick shadow. She gazes downwards and covers one side of her face with the splayed fingers of her left hand, as if suffering from a throbbing headache. Significantly, we glimpse her through the see-through brim of her hat, whose perimeter curves across the surface of the photograph with an elliptical sweep reminiscent of the rings of Saturn. Here is a woman who seems fatally trapped inside the dark orbit of her hat. Some writers on Bassman’s work have noted the omnipresence of swanlike women with conspicuously long necks, making her the Parmigianino of photography. But probably not enough has been said about the wide variety of hats in her pictures.They range from the humble felt beret to the type of cloche hat popularized by flappers to hats that seem to defy description, not to mention common sense –
03
LILLIAN BASSMAN’S WOMEN ON THE VERGE The photographs of Lillian Bassman offer, among much else, a profusion of views of women in hats. This says something about the age in which she worked, a now-vanished, more formal era when a woman heading out on a winter evening was likely to put on the sort of hat that had nothing to do with warding off a cold. Bassman’s first professional photographs were taken with a borrowed camera circa 1947, and the hats worn by her models were designed to draw attention to a face – and to deflect attention from a face as well. More often than not, the hat is an instrument of concealment and veiling, a place to hide, a room of one’s own. There’s a startling photograph from 1950 – untitled, like most of her works – that surely qualifies as her most hat-centric. A woman in a wide-brimmed hat (the model was Mary Jane Russell) is shown in close-up, enshrouded in thick shadow. She gazes downwards and covers one side of her face with the splayed fingers of her left hand, as if suffering from a throbbing headache. Significantly, we glimpse her through the see-through brim of her hat, whose perimeter curves across the surface of the photograph with an elliptical sweep reminiscent of the rings of Saturn. Here is a woman who seems fatally trapped inside the dark orbit of her hat. Some writers on Bassman’s work have noted the omnipresence of swanlike women with conspicuously long necks, making her the Parmigianino of photography. But probably not enough has been said about the wide variety of hats in her pictures.They range from the humble felt beret to the type of cloche hat popularized by flappers to hats that seem to defy description, not to mention common sense –
03
[John] Galliano said he admired Mrs. Bassman’s “painterly streaks of light,” an effect she achieved in the darkroom with bleaching and blurring—and which in later years, when she felt no commercial pressures, took even further. “It was this technique and spirit that I wanted to capture in the dressmaking process,” he said. —Cathy horyn
04
[John] Galliano said he admired Mrs. Bassman’s “painterly streaks of light,” an effect she achieved in the darkroom with bleaching and blurring—and which in later years, when she felt no commercial pressures, took even further. “It was this technique and spirit that I wanted to capture in the dressmaking process,” he said. —Cathy horyn
04
DeBoRaH soLomon
is the author
of Utopia Parkway: The Life and Work of Joseph Cornell and Jackson Pollock: A Biography. she writes the weekly
Introduction by
LiLLian Bassman
DeBoRaH soLomon
is a beloved figure in the pantheon of fashion pho-
“Questions For” column in the New York Times Magazine, where she is also known for her profiles of people in the art world. Previously, she was art critic for the Wall Street Journal. she lives in new York City.
LiLLian Bassman Women Introduction by
Deborah Solomon
tographers. Her signature style offers a sensuous and
no one else in the history of photography
intimate vision of modern women. in new York in the
has made visible that heart-breaking
1950s and 1960s, where sophisticated women were ex-
invisible place between the appearance
panding the scope of their lives while still being forced
and the disappearance of things.
into traditional feminine roles, Bassman sought, as she put it, “to photograph fashion with a woman’s eye for a
—richarD aveDon
woman’s intimate feelings.” as art historian and critic Deborah solomon says in her marvelous introduction,
bassman’s women—perennially soulful,
“The women who appear in her photographs tend to be
elusively chic—have the poignance of an
tall and attractive, and they have the kind of seductive
endangered species.
expression that comes from keeping secrets.”
—JuDith thurman Like her contemporaries Richard avedon and irving
140 tri-tone photographs 240 pages, 10 x 13" Hardcover with jacket
ISBN: 978-0-8109-8260-4 U.S. $50.00 Can. $64.99 U.K. £29.99
Penn, Bassman exploited the medium of fashion pho-
She grafted on to her innovations in
tography to capture a dream world of cool repose. so
romantic diffusion an idiosyncratic
strong is the pull of this vision that it has influenced the
vocabulary of gestures, translating
fashion designers themselves: John Galliano of Dior
couture with a sometimes unsettling edge.
has said of Bassman’s photographs, with their “painterly strokes of light,” that “it was this technique and
—martin harriSon
spirit that i wanted to capture in the dressmaking pro-
Photography Rights: World
cess.” The most desirable models of her time loved to
Pub month: October
work with her, and even agreed to pose in lingerie and in the nude, because they wanted to see themselves as
To place an order:
she would see them. Bassman turned away from fash-
Please call your sales representative
ion photography from the end of the 1960s until 1996,
or Hachette Book Group at 800.759.0190 or fax
when she began to accept new fashion assignments and
800.286.9471
to reprint her earlier photographs with an artist’s eye for emotional and formal expression, essentially creat-
To inquire about publicity:
ing the body of work for which she is famous today.
Please call 212.519.1232 or fax 212.366.0809
With more than 140 of her best images reproduced in
zAbrams
stunning tritone, including many never published be-
115 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011 www.abramsbooks.com
fore and others not seen since they appeared in the
LiLLian Bassman Women
pages of the legendary Harper’s Bazaar of the 1950s, Lillian Bassman: Women provides a retrospective view of an extraordinary career in photography
DeBoRaH soLomon
is the author
of Utopia Parkway: The Life and Work of Joseph Cornell and Jackson Pollock: A Biography. she writes the weekly
Introduction by
LiLLian Bassman
DeBoRaH soLomon
is a beloved figure in the pantheon of fashion pho-
“Questions For” column in the New York Times Magazine, where she is also known for her profiles of people in the art world. Previously, she was art critic for the Wall Street Journal. she lives in new York City.
LiLLian Bassman Women Introduction by
Deborah Solomon
tographers. Her signature style offers a sensuous and
no one else in the history of photography
intimate vision of modern women. in new York in the
has made visible that heart-breaking
1950s and 1960s, where sophisticated women were ex-
invisible place between the appearance
panding the scope of their lives while still being forced
and the disappearance of things.
into traditional feminine roles, Bassman sought, as she put it, “to photograph fashion with a woman’s eye for a
—richarD aveDon
woman’s intimate feelings.” as art historian and critic Deborah solomon says in her marvelous introduction,
bassman’s women—perennially soulful,
“The women who appear in her photographs tend to be
elusively chic—have the poignance of an
tall and attractive, and they have the kind of seductive
endangered species.
expression that comes from keeping secrets.”
—JuDith thurman Like her contemporaries Richard avedon and irving
140 tri-tone photographs 240 pages, 10 x 13" Hardcover with jacket
ISBN: 978-0-8109-8260-4 U.S. $50.00 Can. $64.99 U.K. £29.99
Penn, Bassman exploited the medium of fashion pho-
She grafted on to her innovations in
tography to capture a dream world of cool repose. so
romantic diffusion an idiosyncratic
strong is the pull of this vision that it has influenced the
vocabulary of gestures, translating
fashion designers themselves: John Galliano of Dior
couture with a sometimes unsettling edge.
has said of Bassman’s photographs, with their “painterly strokes of light,” that “it was this technique and
—martin harriSon
spirit that i wanted to capture in the dressmaking pro-
Photography Rights: World
cess.” The most desirable models of her time loved to
Pub month: October
work with her, and even agreed to pose in lingerie and in the nude, because they wanted to see themselves as
To place an order:
she would see them. Bassman turned away from fash-
Please call your sales representative
ion photography from the end of the 1960s until 1996,
or Hachette Book Group at 800.759.0190 or fax
when she began to accept new fashion assignments and
800.286.9471
to reprint her earlier photographs with an artist’s eye for emotional and formal expression, essentially creat-
To inquire about publicity:
ing the body of work for which she is famous today.
Please call 212.519.1232 or fax 212.366.0809
With more than 140 of her best images reproduced in
zAbrams
stunning tritone, including many never published be-
115 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011 www.abramsbooks.com
fore and others not seen since they appeared in the
LiLLian Bassman Women
pages of the legendary Harper’s Bazaar of the 1950s, Lillian Bassman: Women provides a retrospective view of an extraordinary career in photography