Publishers Weekly
10/05/2020
Photography critic Gefter dives deep into the life of Richard Avedon (1923–2004) in a dense biography that illuminates the famed fashion photographer’s life and influence from the mid-1940s up until his death. Known for his signature “formality of a straight-on figure,” Avedon’s sharp black and white portraits showed the public never-before-seen sides of stars like Marilyn Monroe and set the tone for international fashion magazines including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Chapters on Avedon’s scrappy Manhattan upbringing reveal fascinating connections to other artists such as Truman Capote and James Baldwin, though the narrative gets off to a bit of a slow start; discussions of his photography don’t arrive until almost 80 pages in. Avedon’s early commercial campaigns are recounted in detail, and Gefter discusses how Avedon’s artistic style meshed with his advertising work, for example, by shooting famous models for exclusive brand campaigns. (An early coup of his was to arrange an exclusive contract for Lauren Hutton with Revlon in 1973 for a then unheard-of fee of $200,000.) Stories behind famous shots of the Beatles and Andy Warhol reveal just as much about the subjects as Avedon himself (“Andy Warhol, too, was interested in the surface”). Gefter does a remarkable job of situating Avedon within the broader art scene, though the level of detail he goes into may overwhelm readers with a more casual interest in the subject. Nonetheless, this work serves as a definitive and insightful look into one of the titans of 20th century photography. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Wise and ebullient . . . . Gefter takes the reader inside so many of Avedon’s photo shoots, and so deftly explicates his work, that you’re thirsty to sate your eyes with Avedon’s actual images . . . . One of the achievements of Gefter’s biography is to argue persuasively for Avedon’s place, as a maker of portraits, as one of the 20th century’s most consequential artists.” — Dwight Garner, New York Times
"Gefter weaves the particulars of Avedon’s life story into a larger narrative about American culture in the decades after World War II . . . . Read in the context of our own precarious political and ecological moment, this assessment alone argues eloquently for the abiding, even urgent relevance of Avedon’s imperfect Art." — Caroline Weber, New York Times Book Review
“Imagine the offspring of Marcel Proust and the Energizer Bunny—that’s who Richard Avedon was, a chronicler of fashion, an analyst of social types, the author in pictures of his era. And Philip Gefter captures him. His biography is an Avedon of Avedon.” — Louis Menand, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Metaphysical Club
“Mesmerizing. . . . Like Avedon’s blank white backgrounds, blasted with light, Gefter’s pages expose in a controlled and intelligent manner all the bigness and littleness of one of the greats.” — Brad Gooch, New York Times bestselling author of Flannery and City Poet
"A compelling, beautifully written examination of Avedon's life as it reflects the larger cultural milieu of post–World War II New York, and, more importantly, an argument for the role of the artist in contemporary society." — Stephen Shore, photographer
"The portrait that emerges in these pages is not only a biography of the artist—his professional triumphs and disappointments and personal demons—but also a beautifully written assessment of his work, which brings Avedon to life and also vividly evokes his most memorable images." — Kate Betts, Air Mail
“Revealing, fluent, and very well written—an exemplary biography of an underappreciated artist.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Gefter’s expert, comprehensive, and sensitive biography embodies the electricity and complexity of Avedon’s work as he centers Avedon within the crossfire of both the battle to legitimize photography as a fine art form and the struggle for gay rights… Gefter’s engrossing portrait of a master portraitist vividly proves his claim that Avedon is “one of the most consequential artists of the twentieth century." — Booklist, starred review
"Definitive and insightful." — Publishers Weekly
"With this engrossing biography, readers will come away with a greater appreciation of Avedon’s artistic strengths and achievements, as well as the complex man behind the camera." — Library Journal (starred review)
"Philip Gefter’s welcome new biography . . . takes Avedon at his own estimation as a serious 20th-century artist. It creates a dense, convincing portrait of a man with huge talent and a gift for life." — Scott Eyman, Wall Street Journal
Kate Betts
"The portrait that emerges in these pages is not only a biography of the artist—his professional triumphs and disappointments and personal demons—but also a beautifully written assessment of his work, which brings Avedon to life and also vividly evokes his most memorable images."
starred review Booklist
"Gefter’s expert, comprehensive, and sensitive biography embodies the electricity and complexity of Avedon’s work as he centers Avedon within the crossfire of both the battle to legitimize photography as a fine art form and the struggle for gay rights… Gefter’s engrossing portrait of a master portraitist vividly proves his claim that Avedon is “one of the most consequential artists of the twentieth century."
Louis Menand
Imagine the offspring of Marcel Proust and the Energizer Bunny—that’s who Richard Avedon was, a chronicler of fashion, an analyst of social types, the author in pictures of his era. And Philip Gefter captures him. His biography is an Avedon of Avedon.”
Caroline Weber
"Gefter weaves the particulars of Avedon’s life story into a larger narrative about American culture in the decades after World War II …. Read in the context of our own precarious political and ecological moment, this assessment alone argues eloquently for the abiding, even urgent relevance of Avedon’s imperfect Art."
Dwight Garner
Wise and ebullient . . . . Gefter takes the reader inside so many of Avedon’s photo shoots, and so deftly explicates his work, that you’re thirsty to sate your eyes with Avedon’s actual images . . . . One of the achievements of Gefter’s biography is to argue persuasively for Avedon’s place, as a maker of portraits, as one of the 20th century’s most consequential artists.
Brad Gooch
Mesmerizing. . . . Like Avedon’s blank white backgrounds, blasted with light, Gefter’s pages expose in a controlled and intelligent manner all the bigness and littleness of one of the greats.
Stephen Shore
"A compelling, beautifully written examination of Avedon's life as it reflects the larger cultural milieu of post–World War II New York, and, more importantly, an argument for the role of the artist in contemporary society."
Scott Eyman
Philip Gefter’s welcome new biography . . . takes Avedon at his own estimation as a serious 20th-century artist. It creates a dense, convincing portrait of a man with huge talent and a gift for life.
Library Journal
★ 11/01/2020
This illuminating biography of Richard Avedon (1923–2004) is a sympathetic yet clear-eyed portrayal of the photographer's life and career. Award-winning photography critic Getner (Wagstaff: Before and After Mapplethorpe) details his subject's milieu vividly, a circle encompassing a generation of cultural icons, from James Baldwin and Truman Capote to Mike Nichols, Andy Warhol, and Leonard Bernstein. Readers will relish the insider accounts of how famous images came to be made: model Dovima posed with elephants, Marlene Dietrich in her Blackglama mink coat; Ronald Fischer, the beekeeper. Avedon's development as an artist is described alongside juicy bits of his social and professional relationships, all supported by meticulous research from interviews, archives, and published resources. Recognized for his incisive portraiture, Avedon himself struggled with identity issues of sexual orientation, his Jewish heritage, and feelings about money and celebrity. The perceptive author lays out these many contradictions in Avedon's life, including mixed critical reviews that evidence a continual tension between commercial photography and fine art, contributing to Avedon's own insecurity about his place in the art world. VERDICT With this engrossing biography, readers will come away with a greater appreciation of Avedon's artistic strengths and achievements, as well as the complex man behind the camera.—Nancy B. Turner, Temple Univ. Lib., Philadelphia
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2020-07-23
A welcome life of the noted photographer Richard Avedon (1923-2004), locating him in a broad cultural and artistic context.
Gefter, whose 2014 book, Wagstaff, chronicled the prominent collector, ventures a thesis that he ably defends: Until recently, photography was not considered an art form so much as “something of a utilitarian medium, whether photojournalism, advertising, passport ID photos, family snapshots, or forensic evidence.” Avedon did much to elevate photography to an art form. He began as a commercial artist, to be sure, engaged in high-end retailing and particularly fashion photography. Even late in his career, a peer likened him to the French court painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard, saying, “Like many decorative artists, he despised his gift.” Regardless, over the years, Avedon developed a trademark look, his backgrounds the plain white field against which he would set such iconic figures as Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, and Henry Kissinger. Gefter sets Avedon among a hyperactive cultural milieu: As someone who started off with the intention of becoming a poet, he was well at home in the midcentury literary and cultural world of Manhattan, “at the center of a profoundly influential group of individuals—Leonard Bernstein, Truman Capote, James Baldwin, Allen Ginsberg, Harold Brodkey, Sidney Lumet, and Mike Nichols.” He was a Jew who strived to assimilate, as did so many of his generation. He was also gay, though in the days when it was dangerous to be openly so, he took pains to disguise the fact, marrying Dorcas Marie Nowell, one of his female models. Nowell’s son later recalled, “He and my mom were deeply in love and they were deeply close. If it wasn’t sexual, though, it was a friendship kind of closeness.” Most important, though, Avedon was a brilliant if sometimes controversial artist, and Gefter does much to prove his essential role in raising photographic portraiture to a lofty level.
Revealing, fluent, and very well written—an exemplary biography of an underappreciated artist.
