SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
1600 Peachtree St. NW
Atlanta, GA
About the artist
Born Paul Albert Bohrmann, Horst P. Horst (b. 1906, Weissenfels,
Germany; d. 1999, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) originally studied furniture
making and carpentry at the Hamburg School of the Applied Arts. After
learning about the Bauhaus movement, Horst sought an apprenticeship with
the renowned architect Le Corbusier and moved to Paris. There, he met
photographer George Hoyningen-Huene and soon became his muse, lover,
assistant, and eventual colleague as a fellow photographer at Vogue.
When Hoyningen-Huene left Vogue in 1935, Horst took over the role of
photographer-in-chief. In 1939, anticipating World War II and the Nazi
occupation, Horst left Paris for New York, where he officially changed
his name, as the surname Bohrmann was shared by a top Nazi official and
Horst, as a German citizen and a gay man, wanted to erase any perceived
connection to Hitler’s oppressive regime. In New York, Horst continued
to work at Vogue steadily through the early 1950s and again in the 1960s
during editor Diana Vreeland’s tenure. In the 1970s he continued to
work for Condé Nast at publications such as House & Garden. In 1989,
Horst received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of
Fashion Designers of America, and, in 1996, he received the Master of
Photography Award from the International Center for Photography. Horst
produced photographs until 1992 when his poor eyesight forced him to
retire. His work has been the subject of numerous museum exhibitions,
including retrospectives at the National Portrait Gallery and the
V&A in London and the International Center of Photography in New
York.
Essence of the Times is curated by Rafael Gomes, director of fashion exhibitions at SCAD FASH, in collaboration with Gert Elfering of the Horst P. Horst Estate and Juan Carlos Arcila-Duque from The Art Design Project Gallery.
The exhibition is presented on the occasion of Atlanta Celebrates Photography.
