Then:: Photographs 1925-1995

by Alexander Liberman

Eminent artists, spies, fashion designers, aristocrats, dancers, actors, editors, publishers, and Nobel laureates are included in this photographic chronicle of half a century. Liberman, born in Russia in 1912 and educated in London and Paris, was art director of Vu magazine, then Vogue magazine, and later became the editorial director, and ultimately the deputy director, of all CondT Nast magazines. These b&w photos, sumptuously printed full-page in an oversize format (9x12"), can't fail to impress; the subjects are people of extraordinary beauty, wealth, artistic talent, and/or fame with whom Liberman has interacted during his long life. He provides extensive, anecdotal captions. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Genres: Photography

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Kimmo Sinivuori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alexander Liberman belonged to that incredible group of people who in their lifetime not only had to flee the revolutionary Russia but also their adopted country of France when the Second World War broke out, but still managed to live a charmed and highly, and I really mean highly, creative life. Liberman and his wife Tatiana knew pretty much everybody who was anybody in modern art and also, it seems, all those rich East Coast socialites with impeccable taste, open mind and keen interest for supporting the avant-garde. In today's world where the rich are becoming ever more vulgar a la Donald Trump, it is wonderful to immerse oneself into the art de vivre of the gilded age of truly stylish and elegant people with money, emphasis on the style and elegance. Thus, we can only thank Liberman's father, an economist and adviser to Lenin, for buying his son a Kodak vest-pocket camera and turning him into a photographer, for this highly enjoyable book of photographs. Highlights to me are the photos of Alberto and Annette Giacometti in their one-room kitchen/bedroom home and in contrast Babe Pailey looking incredibly elegant in the sitting room of her vast estate as well as the pregnant Lee Miller wearing a Chinese dress in London and Marcel Duchamp dancing in his New York apartment...I could go on and on as this book is a true treasure trove of 20th Century images.