Photographer Richard Avedon’s New Take on the Group Portrait

• Published in: MomentMag.com
• Main Author: Brent, Frances
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Moment Magazine 01.07.2023
• Subjects: Acquittals & mistrials; Art galleries & museums; Avedon, Richard; Cameras; Celebrities; Conscientious objectors; Councils; Murals; Photographers; Photography; Police lineups; Secondary schools; Trials; Warhol, Andy (1928-1987); Vietnam; United States > US; Chicago Illinois

On view until October 1, the exhibit is organized around three of the four massive, larger-than-life group portraits Avedon did between 1969 and 1971 that are now owned by the Met:The Mission Council, Andy Warhol and members of The Factory, and The Chicago Seven (the fourth mural, Allen Ginsberg’s Family, is in the collection of the Israel Museum). The Met exhibition is designed so that the portrait of 11 officials of the Saigon Mission Council (only one official from the on-the-ground group running the war declined to pose for the picture) is placed directly across from the composite photograph of Andy Warhol and his Factory—a conglomeration of art workers, porno film stars, writers and directors. Andy Warhol was still recovering from the 1968 attempt on his life, while the sexual liberties of his movies, parties and “happenings” presented an ongoing challenge to the American social structure. The one exception, a 1955 photo of the African-American singer Marian Anderson, is a homage to the miracle of voice with the contralto’s open lips forming an exalting “o.” By far the most poignant image in the show is a small group portrait, The Shoeshine Boys Project: Richard Hughes, social worker, with Vietnamese street boys.