McCord 2024: Norman Parkinson

Audrey Hepburn, Photo Norman Parkinson

NORMAN PARKINSON: ALWAYS IN STYLE

SIXTY YEARS OF FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Presented by Holt Renfrew Ogilvy

April 19 - September 2, 2024

McCord Stewart Museum is presenting a new exhibition that brings into focus the works of the British photographer Norman Parkinson, especially those of his photos that relate to fashion, glamour and celebrities. Always in Style is the first of two exhibitions devoted to fashion and portrait photography that will be making their North American premieres this year.

With his flamboyant personality but also artistic sensibility, Norman Parkinson gave a new impetus to fashion photography and celebrity portraiture. Between the years 1930 - 1980 he photographed not only famous models but also some of the most influential actors and actresses of that generation, including royalty and the crowned heads of Europe. He immortalized many of the 20th century’s biggest celebrities including Audrey Hepburn, Jerry Hall, David Bowie, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jane Birkin and many others. 

Beatles, Photo Norman Parkinson

The exhibition offers to the public 79 of Norman Parkinson’s best-known photographic images. In addition, it also includes the recent discoveries from his immense and remarkable photographic portfolio. Also on display is a selection of 56 covers of major magazines – Vogue (British and American), Harper’s Bazaar, Tatler, etc. that were shot by Parkinson between the 1950s and 1970s.

Visitors will also discover several magnificent pieces from the McCord Stewart Museum’s Dress, Fashion and Textiles collection: 10 high-end dresses and ensembles made between the 1930s and the 1970s by French designers Christian Dior, Jacques Griffe, Jean Patou, Louis Féraud and Guy Laroche, Italian André Laug, and British designers Digby Morton and Hardy Amies, plus four creations by Quebec milliners Fanny Graddon and Yvette Brillon.

STEPPING OUT OF PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIOS

Norman Parkinson made a name for himself early in his career with his unconventional style. Favouring the outdoors rather than the constrained, formal environment of a photo studio, he set his models in motion in sumptuous, often unusual, settings. The 1939 photograph of model Pamela Minchin, captured mid-air in a Fortnum & Mason swimsuit on the Isle of Wight (England) for Harper’s Bazaar, illustrates this interest in spontaneity. He said of this image:

“When I pulled that picture out of the soup it confirmed to me for the rest of my life that I had to be a photographer. I was absolutely amazed by the magic of it.” 

It was this dynamic style that attracted the attention of the most celebrated fashion magazines, including Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue (British and American) and Town & Country, and earned him international recognition. One of the first fashion photographers to incorporate colour into his practice, he said:

“I dream in colour... When you dream in colour... one must photograph in colour.”

DECADES OF CREATIVITY

Much of Parkinson’s enduring success is attributed to his ability to reinvent his style over trends and decades, and to maintain his reputation despite the emergence of new generations of young photographers and models. Between the 1940s and 1950s, Parkinson began a long collaboration with British Vogue, producing images with a narrative character, as seen in Young Velvets, Young Prices (New York, Vogue, 1949), which features four models wearing hats against a backdrop of New York skyscrapers. This period also saw the appearance of images of his muse and wife Wenda Parkinson, who became one of the period’s top models. The 1960s and 1970s were marked by major lifestyle changes, but Parkinson had no trouble keeping up. Throughout the 1960s, Parkinson continued to spot new faces and began working with Queen magazine. In the 1970s, his images helped elevate new models to stardom, including the likes of Jerry Hall and Iman. During this twenty-year period, Parkinson took iconic photographs of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, as well as fashion designers like Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert deGivenchy, Jean Muir and Zandra Rhodes. In the 1980s, Parkinson was awarded the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen ElizabethII and created a series of portraits for a retrospective organized by London’s National Portrait Gallery.

The exhibition's curator Terence Pepper OBE stated:

 “I hope that the audience will appreciate the opportunity to witness the significant moments in the career of a photographer who not only played a crucial role in the development of fashion photography in the 20th century but also excelled as a portrait artist. Throughout his prolific 60-year career, spanning from 1931 until his passing in 1990, while still in action, he demonstrated a remarkable ability to capture and reflect the essence of the era in which he worked.”

Click on images to enlarge them.

All photos @ Nadia Slejskova

The exhibition includes a self-guided tour for families.

For more information about current exhibitions and special evens associated with this exhibition, visit the McCord Stewart Museum website.

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Norman Parkinson with his Nikon, Photo Graham Lawrence