Exhibition Closes at the ROM on January 3, 2010
The Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) announces the final days of Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008, presented by the Bay, closing on January 3, 2010. This is the last opportunity to view this striking exhibition, which features over 140 vintage and contemporary portraits from the magazine’s early period and since its 1983 relaunch. The ROM is the sole Canadian venue to host the exhibition, now on its final stop after successful European and Australian engagements. A collaboration between Vanity Fair magazine and the National Portrait Gallery, London, England, the exhibition is curated by Terence Pepper, Curator of Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, and David Friend, Vanity Fair’s Editor of Creative Development. It is displayed in the Roloff Beny Gallery on Level 4 of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal.
This is the first major exhibition to bring together Vanity Fair’s historic archive of rare vintage prints with its contemporary photographs. It was mounted to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the modern-era magazine and the 95th anniversary in 2008 of the original magazine’s founding, and brings together a collection of captivating images of cultural icons from Louis Armstrong, Albert Einstein, Jean Harlow and Katharine Hepburn to Madonna, Matt Damon, Demi Moore, President and Mrs. Reagan, Lord Conrad Black and Barbara Amiel.
Vanity Fair Portraits features the work of legendary photographers such as Edward Steichen (1879-1973), the magazine’s chief photographer for 13 years (from 1923 to 1936). Steichen became America’s leading photographer of style, taste and celebrity. The section of the exhibition representing the period 1983 to the present day displays the stunning work of the world’s foremost portrait photographers, among them Helmut Newton, Nan Goldin, Herb Ritts, Mario Testino, Bruce Weber and especially Annie Leibovitz, Vanity Fair’s principal photographer since 1983. Leibovitz, the most famous image-maker of her generation, first came to prominence while she was working as a photographer for Rolling Stone magazine, eventually becoming chief photographer. Her Vanity Fair covers have left us with unforgettable images of prominent figures in American pop culture.
This winter the ICC continues The Question of Celebrity, a series of events and programs inspired by the exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits, including a film series on November 23 and December 14, 2009. For more information visit: www.rom.on.ca/icc
Admission to Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008 is included in general Museum admission: Adults: $22; Students and Seniors with ID: $19; Children (4 to 14 years) $15; Children 3 & under are free. Half Price Friday Nights, presented by Sun Life Financial, take place from 4:30 pm to 9:30 pm. To book a group of ten or more and for more information on private guided tours or group menu, please call ROM Group Sales at 416.586.5889 or email groupsales@rom.on.ca.
Museum hours will be extended until 8:30 pm (9:30 pm on Fridays) from December 26 to January 3, and half-price admission will be offered for on-site ticket purchases after 4:30 pm. This includes New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. During ROM for the Holidays, the last entry for the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition will be 7:00 pm on days with 8:30 pm close, and 8:00 pm on Fridays with 9:30 pm close. The Museum will close at 5:30 PM on December 24.