Horst, Fur, pearls and diamonds, 1940Īfter the war, the American fashion industry was booming and Horst was as busy as ever. Horst directed the light from below, intensifying the contrastive effect between the black garments and the white background.įig. The model’s face is partly obscured by a stylish hat, giving rise to a mood of calculated mystery and coolness. These geometrical lines suggest movement and playfulness. An interesting detail is that the model’s left shoulder points downwards, while her right shoulder points upwards, paralleling the diagonal direction of the boa. It shows an elegant fur boa carefully curled around the woman’s arm. 4), reflecting Horst’s aptitude for geometrical compositions and contrasts. In 1940 he produced the wonderful picture Fur, pearls and diamond (fig. There he went on to have a successful career as a photographer for American Vogue. In August 1939, with the outbreak of war just weeks away, Horst fled Paris for New York. In the 1930s Chanel, along with Elsa Schiaparelli, dominated Paris couture and was on friendly terms with Horst.įig.
Dressed in black and with her characteristic bold jewelry, she is holding her cigarette in a typically masculine way. Here, Chanel reclines in a Louis XVI armchair, the outline of her profile set against the satin upholstery, while the background is adorned with baroque gilt scrolls. Horst also used Baroque ornamentation in his pictures, demonstrated in his iconic portrait of Coco Chanel (1937, fig. Horst, 1937 (Fashion: Lucien Lelong, Bijoux: Boucheron) Chiaroscuro effects and dramatic shadows were principle elements in Horst’s 1930s photographs.įig. Horst directed the light on the pale garment, leaving the face in the shadow, in order to generate a mysterious effect. The association with classicism is heightened by her white dress, giving the appearance of marble, and the stark white background. 2) portrays a model who slightly bends her right leg, resembling the contrapposto pose of a classical statue. Such powerful imagery may have appealed to Horst in those years, who was profoundly influenced by the idealized beauty of classical antiquity.įor example, his 1937 photograph (fig. 1), near-naked, against the columns of the Parthenon. Nelly, Nikolska, Parthenon, Athens, 1929Ī cover of the French magazine Voilà from 1934 depicts the draped figure of dancer Nikolska (fig. Soon Horst became French Vogue’s primary photographer, celebrated for his classical images of models and society figures posed in dramatic, sometimes Greek-inspired settings.įig. Initially an architecture student in Paris, Horst’s career in photography began in the early 1930s, after meeting the photographer George Hoyningen-Huene who became his mentor and partner. Horst (1906–1999) came to be identified with sheer elegance and style. In the history of twentieth-century fashion photography, the images of the German born photographer Horst P.
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