H. L. Mencken & George Jean Nathan, New York

Photography and Media

1947, printed by 1972

Irving Penn
American, 1917–2009

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Photography and Media

Artist: Irving Penn
Title: H. L. Mencken & George Jean Nathan, New York
Place: United States (Artist's nationality)
Date: Made 1947
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Inscriptions: Inscribed verso: REF. 389; inscribed verso: ..; inscribed verso: H.L. MENCKEN (RT.) AND GEORGE JEAN NATHAN (L) / NEW YORK, 1947 [in a box]; stamped and inscribed verso: PHOTOGRAPH BY IRVING PENN / Copyright © 1948–RENEWED 1977 by / THE CONDE NAST PUBLICATIONS INC. / Not to be reproduced without / written permission of the / copyright owner.; signed and stamped verso: Irving Penn / IRVING PENN [in a circle]; inscribed verso:“Print made before 1972. / I.P.; stamped and inscribed verso: SIGNED, SILVER PRINTS OF / THIS NEGATIVE NOT EXCEEDING 65.
Dimensions: Image/paper: 49.5 × 39.7 cm (19 1/2 × 15 11/16 in.); Mount: 60.9 × 50.6 cm (24 × 19 15/16 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Irving Penn
Reference Number: 1996.194
Copyright: Copyright Condé Nast Publications, Inc.

Penn, Irving. 1960. “Moments Preserved.” Simon and Schuster. p. 135. (other print of this image)
Marlborough Gallery, New York. 1977. “Irving Penn: Photographs in Platinum Metals, Images 1947–1975.” Exh. cat. Marlborough Gallery. n.pag., cat. 85. (other print of this image)
Szarkowski, John. 1984. “Irving Penn.” Exh. cat. Museum of Modern Art/New York Graphic Society Books. pl. 7. (other print of this image)
Foresta, Merry A. and William F. Stapp. 1990. “Irving Penn: Master Images.” Exh. cat. National Museum of American Art and National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 100, cat. 64. (other print of this image/variant in platinum)
Penn, Irving. 1991. “Passage: A Work Record.” Knopf. p. 28. (other print of this image?)
Hürlimann, Annemarie. 1994. “Irving Penn: Collection privée/Irving Penn: Privatsammlung.” Exh. cat. Musée d’art et d’histoire/Editions Bentali. p. 21, cat. 4. (other print of this image)
Westerbeck, Colin. 1997. “Irving Penn: A Career in Photography.” Exh. cat. Art Institute of Chicago/Bulfinch Press. p. 141, cat. 19, fig. 3.
Greenough, Sarah. 2005. “Irving Penn: Platinum Prints.” Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art/Yale University Press. pl. 4. (other print of this image/variant in platinum)
Kelly, Marianne. 2011. “Out of the Dark Room: The David Kronn Collection.” Exh. cat. Irish Museum of Modern Art. p. 25. (other print of this image)

Art Institute of Chicago, “Irving Penn, A Career in Photography,” November 22, 1997–February 1, 1998; traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, State Hermitage Museum, March 1–May 16, 1998; Hamburg, Germany, Deichtorhallen, June 18–September 6, 1998; Munich, Germany, Müchner Stadtmuseum, October 6, 1998–February 21, 1999; San Francisco, California, Friends of Photography/Ansel Adams Center for Photography, November 11, 1999–January 23, 2000; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 25–June 4, 2000; Paris, France, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, September 13–November 5, 2000 (Chicago only). (Colin Westerbeck)

Given by the artist to the Art Institute, 1996.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.