Irving Penn: Centennial
Video Courtesy of MOP Foundation: Irving Penn: Centennial, From 23 November 2024 to 1 May 2025, MOP Foundation Muelle de Batería s/n, A Coruña, Galicia
A Coruña, 22 November 2024. The Marta Ortega Pérez (MOP) Foundation tomorrow opens its fourth large-scale exhibition to the public: Irving Penn: Centennial, organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in collaboration with The Irving Penn Foundation, curated by Jeff L. Rosenheim, Joyce Frank Menschel Curator in Charge of Photographs at The Met. The collection, the most comprehensive from this prolific photographer ever shown in Spain to date, may be viewed until 1 May 2025 in the MOP Foundation exhibition centre located in the port area of A Coruña.
Irving Penn Pablo Picasso at La Californie,Cannes, 1957 ©The Irving Penn Foundation
Irving Penn: Centennial, created in 2017 for the centenary of the photographer’s birth, celebrates his incomparable career in all its glory, from his beginnings in the late 1930s and continuing into the first decade of the 21st century. Comprising over 160 photographs and other unique pieces, such as the backdrop he used in his studio, the exhibition takes in all the facets of Penn’s rich output: the serene beauty of fashion models; exquisite nudes and the poignancy of ageing flowers; the still lifes for which he had a passion throughout his life; many portraits of the personalities that brought him worldwide recognition; and his photographic series of ordinary people taken in different corners of the world.
Irving Penn Naomi Sims in Scarf, New York, ca. 1969 ©The Irving Penn Foundation
For the occasion of the arrival of Irving Penn: Centennial in A Coruña, in addition the MOP Foundation is also publishing an exclusive Spanish-language edition of the exhibition catalogue, essential for any admirer of the artist’s work or the history of 20th-century photography.
Exhibition Views: Irving Penn: Centennial, From 23 November 2024 to 1 May 2025, MOP Foundation Muelle de Batería s/n, A Coruña, Galicia
This volume offers one of the most extensive selections of Penn’s photographs –almost 300 in total–, including both his most iconic images and previously unpublished works, and a series of essays that offer insight into the photographer’s major themes and works.
Irving Penn Picture of self, Cuzco, 1948 ©The Irving Penn Foundation
About The MOP Foundation
Founded in 2022, the MOP Foundation is based on three main pillars: photography, fashion and A Coruña. To date it has held three world class exhibitions at its dedicated space: Peter Lindbergh. Untold Stories (2021-22), Steven Meisel 1993 A Year in Photographs (2022-23) and Helmut Newton - Fact & Fiction (2023-24).
MOP Centre and Bookstore
As is the case every year, visitors will discover a new space composition in the interior and exterior of the MOP Foundation specifically designed for the exhibition.
Inside the Silo, the MOP Foundation is also reopening its bookstore, which specialises in photography, fashion, design and other artistic disciplines: MOP – The Bookstore.
Admission to exhibitions promoted by the MOP Foundation is free. Profits generated from merchandising sales has permitted the establishment of the Future Stories program, aimed at supporting young creators at the beginning of their careers. In addition, the MOP Foundation boasts an educational programme for artists that revolves around their exhibitions, and which aims to bring the figure of these great photographers to classrooms in Galicia and thus foster a deeper understanding of their work.
The exhibition opened on 23 November 2024 and will be on view until 1 May 2025. The Foundation offers free admission. Profits from the sale of merchandise will be donated to the Future Stories project aimed at supporting creators in their artistic careers. The facilities are fully adapted for persons with reduced mobility. Guided tours may be booked on the website. For more information about this exhibition and others, please visit the MOP Foundation site here. The foundation can also be found on Instagram.
