Portraits of Power

Last night I went to the VIP opening for the Corcoran's new show Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power. The show focused not on Avedon's apparent fixation with all things political, but instead, as those who knew him well said, his fascination with power. Among the selections for the show were some of his more famous portraits of powerful artists, writers, thinkers, and doers. Some of his subjects, including NAACP chair Julian Bond, were in attendance and discussed Avedon's process in achiving his aesthetic. As you may well assume, the show was incredible. Avedon shot mostly 8x10 and the show is filled with incredible enlargements, as well as many contact prints, including a wall of 69 portraits done in 1976 for Rolling Stone focusing on the ruling men and women of Washington.

If you're in Washington over the next four months be sure to stop by the Corcoran and check out the show for yourself. For more of Avedon's work, check out the Avedon Foundation's website. For more on last night's event, check out Washingtonian.com.