NEW YORK-
The iconic images are all there: The presidents. The rock stars. The actors and other celebrities.
And if you asked world-renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz which ones represent her best work since 1990, she wouldn’t select any of them. Instead, she’d focus on more intimate images–photos of her parents, her three children, her closest friends.
“I realize it’s the strongest work, because there are the people that know you, and put up with you and let you enter their lives, and they’re the people you know the longest,” she said. “Hence the good work, hence the best work.”
Leibovitz’s personal and professional images are on display at a new exhibit opening Friday at the Brooklyn Museum. “Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990-2005” features close to 200 images, and runs at the museum through Jan. 21 before making stops around the country and in Europe. It accompanies a new book with the same title.
The idea of putting personal images in the public view came to Leibovitz after she went through a particularly emotional time. Her longtime companion Susan Sontag died in December 2004, followed shortly by the death of her father, and then the birth of her twin daughters.
A book was due to her publisher. Going through her work, she realized the images that meant the most to her were the personal ones, photos that she had never intended to put out there.
“When I photographed personally, I don’t think I ever had an agenda or imagined where it might go and I never would have looked at it if Susan hadn’t died and my father hadn’t died. But I felt so moved,” she said. “I looked at that work and it meant so much to me. I hardly looked at the assignment work.”
Organized chronologically, the exhibit gives viewers a chance to see both. There are plenty of famous faces to look at–Brad Pitt reclining on a mattress, Chris Rock in whiteface makeup, the unforgettable image of a very pregnant Demi Moore that made waves as a Vanity Fair cover, President Bush and his cabinet alongside an image of filmmaker Michael Moore and some companions.
But interspersed are the images that give a glimpse into Leibovitz’s life. There are photos of her family at the beach, her oldest daughter running away from being photographed as a small child, her twins shortly after their birth. There are images of Sontag struggling with her cancer, and one taken after her death. There’s an image of her father as he comes to the end of his life.
It’s a remarkable opportunity to see another side of Leibovitz, said Charlotta Kotik, who curated the show at the museum.
“It shows a totally different dimension of her thinking,” Kotik said. “You see her talent in a very different way, you see the scope of her abilities.”
After its showing in Brooklyn, the exhibit moves to the San Diego Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Legion of Honor at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. International stops will follow in Paris and London.
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Also on view in October:
— “Merengue! Visual Rhythms/Ritmos Visuales,” El Museo del Barrio, through Jan. 21: This exhibit features more than 50 works from three dozen Dominican artists inspired by the rhythm and movements of merengue. The show was organized in the Dominican Republic.
— “This Skin I’m In: Contemporary Dominican Art from El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection,” El Museo del Barrio, through Jan. 21: The museum has been expanding the holdings in its collection, and this exhibit features a number of recent acquisitions.
— “Cimabue and Early Italian Devotional Painting,” The Frick Collection, through Dec. 31: The two paintings that are the centerpiece of this show were both done by Cimabue, during the early Italian Renaissance, and are the only small-scale works of his known to exist.
— “Star Trek: 40 Years of Fandom,” Museum of the Moving Image, through April 15: The iconic television program and the phenomena it inspired are the focus of this show, featuring more than 600 items. Visitors will see a range of material from clothing to trading cards, referencing every television show and all the movies.
— “Tropica: A Revolution in Brazilian Culture,” Bronx Museum of the Arts, through Jan. 27: The late 1960s were exciting years for arts and culture in Brazil, creating a legacy that continues to have an impact on artists working today. This exhibit, housed in the museum’s new $19 million building, is the last stop for this show in the United States.
— “Lucio Fontana: Venice/New York,” Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, through Jan. 21: Featuring more than 40 works, this show pulls together pieces that Fontana, a sculptor, created in 1961 while spending time in Venice and New York.
— “Eye on Europe: Prints, Books and Multiples/1960 to Now,” The Museum of Modern Art, through Jan. 1: Covering more than four decades, this show takes a look at major artistic developments in these three mediums. It starts with Pop Art screenprints and works its way to what European artists are doing now.
— “Ehon: The Artist and the Book in Japan,” The New York Public Library, through Feb. 4: This far-reaching show covers twelve centuries of history. It includes everything from painted manuscripts and photographic works to contemporary pieces. The entire exhibit comes from the library’s collections.
— “Domenico Tiepolo (1727-1804): A New Testament,” Frick Collection, Oct. 24 through Jan. 7: The artist created more than 300 drawings representing the New Testament. Now, for the first time in a museum exhibition, visitors will get a chance to see almost 60 of them.
— “Coaxing the Spirits to Dance: Art of the Papuan Gulf,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oct. 24 through Sept. 2: This exhibit, the first on the subject in nearly half a century, looks at how important art was on the island of Papua New Guinea in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It will showcase about 60 sculptures and 30 photographs.
— “Americans in Paris, 1860-1900,” Metropolitan Museum, Oct. 24 through Jan. 28: Paris in the late 19th century was the focal point of the art world, drawing scores of artists to study there, including many Americans. This exhibit showcases some of those who made a name for themselves there, like Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, and Winslow Homer.
— “Where Do We Go From Here?: The Photo League and Its Legacy,” New York Public Library, Oct. 27 through Feb. 18: The Photo League was a vital player in the development of American photography, and counted among its participants Ansel Adams, Margaret Bourke-White and Lewis Hine. This show celebrates the League, exhibiting works from some of its most well-known members.
— “Alex Katz Paints Ada,” The Jewish Museum, Oct. 27 through March 16: One of Katz’s favorite subjects seems to be his wife, Ada, whom he has painted many times. This exhibit brings together almost 40 of those paintings, including formal portraits and group scenes.
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