Past Exhibitions

Vanity Fair 1913 to 1936

Launched in 1913 by visionary publisher Condé Nast and editor Frank Crowinshield, Vanity Fair magazine strove to engage its cosmopolitan audience with the vibrant modern culture that sparkled at the beginning of the 20th century. It became a cultural catalyst, introducing and providing commentary on contemporary artists, personalities and writers of this sophisticated new era.

An alluring array of portraits of literary giants to memorable images of men and women of the Jazz Age were commissioned from the greatest photographers of the period in these early years. Among the vintage portraits shown in the exhibition are iconic images of H.G. Wells, Rebecca West, Ernest Hemingway, Albert Einstein, and Pablo Picasso. Images were captured by legendary photographers such as Martin Hölig, Cecil Beaton, Man Ray and Edward Steichen.

In 1936, Condé Nast decided to cease publication of Vanity Fair. This marked the end of the magazine’s vintage period. In the affluent eighties, the need arose for a new magazine of this type, and the title was revived in 1983.

 

 

Top image credits: Liza Minelli by Mary Ellen Mark, 2001. © Mary Ellen Mark. Jean Harlow by George Hurrell, 1934. © Condé Nast Publications Inc./Courtesy Condé Nast Archive.