The J. Paul Getty Museum has acquired a major set of photographs from Irving Penn’s Cuzco series, a body of work that marked a turning point in the photographer’s career.
The acquisition, made through a donation from The Irving Penn Foundation, includes 189 prints from Penn’s Cuzco series: 178 gelatin silver prints and 11 platinum-palladium prints. The gift also comprises a book maquette titled Christmas in Cuzco and the February 15, 1949, and December 1949 issues of American Vogue, where related photographs were first published.
“This acquisition transforms the Getty Museum into one of the most comprehensive repositories of photographs by Irving Penn,” says Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle, and Robert Tuttle Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. “When coupled with Penn’s Small Trades series, a set of 252 gelatin silver and platinum-palladium prints acquired in 2008 and exhibited in 2009, the Cuzco series makes the Getty a key resource for the study and display of Penn’s work, while also building upon the Museum’s efforts to expand the representation of communities in our collection.”
James Ganz, senior curator of photographs at the Getty, adds, “Our curatorial staff is excited to consider the multiple ways in which these photographs will activate our program. They encourage us to build our holdings of works by Peruvian and other Latin American photographers that similarly document and celebrate the lives and traditions of indigenous peoples.”…