Creating Culture: An Architect, An Artist

 Via Front Doors

October 25, 2023

Images courtesy of Tony Vaccaro Studios/The Monroe Gallery of Photography

Georgia O’Keeffe once wrote, “Nobody sees a flower — really — it is so small it takes time — we haven’t time — and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.” Through the lens of O’Keeffe’s life, this notion is evident when considering her nearly three-decades-long friendship with Frank Lloyd Wright.

The two are champions in their field — O’Keeffe’s paintings earned her the title of “Mother of American Modernism,” and Wright is still one of the most celebrated architects in the world — yet, beneath the surface of their achievements lay similarities that run deeper than their success.

Taliesin West’s newest photography exhibition, “American Icons: Wright & O’Keeffe,” explores the pair in a way that’s never been seen before. Running from Oct. 20 through June 3, the exhibit features portraits of the two shot by Tony Vaccaro for “Life Magazine.” The exhibition explores the similarities between Wright and O’Keeffe not just as artists, but as people — and friends.

“They are people that we look very closely at, not just at the artwork they made, but their life,” said Niki Stewart, Taliesin West’s vice president and chief learning and engagement officer. “We as the public don’t always do that with every artist. We sometimes really just focus on their art, but there is a public fascination with both of these figures.”

Both born in rural Wisconsin, Wright and O’Keeffe were drawn to the American Southwest. Wright sought refuge in Arizona during winters, while O’Keeffe found her artistic sanctuary in the heart of New Mexico. The pair were fans of each other’s work, and as Stewart notes, “It’s no overstatement to call them friends.”

One of many similarities was that nature inspired much of their work. O’Keeffe famously painted flowers, landscapes and animal skulls, drawing inspiration from the environment around her. Wright had the same respect for nature, once stating, “No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together, each the happier for the other.”

From the 1930s until Wright’s death in 1959, the pair wrote back and forth, sent books, pamphlets and artwork, and shared ideas with each other. Notably, they only met in person once in 1942 at Taliesin, Wright’s Wisconsin home.

“I feel like that’s a story that people can really relate to today with technology,” said Stewart. “We get so close to people who don’t live where we live. We use instant messaging, FaceTime and all these other tools to get close to folks, some of whom we’ve never met.”

In 2021, Taliesin West hosted an exhibit called “Chihuly in the Desert.” The exhibit paired works of glass artist Dale Chihuly with Wright’s architecture. Following the exhibition’s success, Taliesin West knew they wanted to pair Wright’s work with another artist, this time on a smaller, more intimate scale.

While looking for photos of Wright, Stewart discovered that Tony Vaccaro had photographed Wright and O’Keeffe for “Life Magazine” years apart, and that’s when the exhibit came to life.

Michael A. “Tony” Vaccaro rose to popularity through photos he took while fighting on the front lines of World War II. Vaccaro’s post-military career focused on fashion and celebrity photography for various magazines. Vaccaro would go on to photograph Wright and O’Keeffe, among other celebrities like Sophia Loren, John F. Kennedy and Eartha Kitt. He passed away in 2022, eight days after his 100th birthday.

“After the war, he came home to the United States and started working for magazines like ‘Look’ and ‘Life’ and other magazines that were celebrating what’s good and beautiful about life,” Stewart said. “Because after the war, he decided that’s what he wanted to focus on — what makes life wonderful.”

Visitors of the exhibit can select between an audio or an in-depth guided tour. The audio tour offers a unique experience by featuring recordings of Wright himself, accompanied by some of his favorite music. The in-depth guided tour provides visitors with a more interactive experience, allowing them to engage directly with tour guides who can offer deeper insights and answer questions about the exhibit and its subjects.

“I hope visitors walk out feeling interested in connecting with others and being with other people and being inspired by the people in their lives,” Stewart said. “I think we all run into people who inspire us every day, but what we do with that is up to us. So I hope this inspires you to get connected with others and do great things together.”

The exhibition is included in paid tour admission. To learn more, visit franklloydwright.org.

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Taliesin West | Tony Vaccaro: American Icons: Wright & O’Keeffe, October 20, 2023 – June 3, 2024

 Via Musee Art Out

October 20, 2023

Tony Vaccaro

 Frank Lloyd Wright, Wisconsin, 1957/Georgia O'Keeffe, Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, 1960

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Taliesin West | Tony Vaccaro: American Icons: Wright & O’Keeffe, October 20, 2023 – June 3, 2024

Following the massive success of the “Chihuly In The Desert” exhibition in 2022, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation continues to explore the ways that Wright connects with other iconic artists of his time through unique exhibitions at Taliesin West. As the latest iteration, the World Heritage Site will debut an exclusive “American Icons: Wright and O’Keeffe” exhibition this fall, offering guests the opportunity to view photographs of Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O’Keeffe – two legends of American art and architecture – taken by Michael A. “Tony” Vaccaro while on assignment for LOOK Magazine from 1957 to 1960, including some never-before-seen images.

“Wright and O’Keeffe are seen as giants in their fields but are rarely connected. Many are unaware that the pair met in 1942 and had a mutual admiration for one another’s work for many years, whilst sharing other similarities including their birthplace of rural Wisconsin; careers that took them to New York, Chicago and Japan; dwellings in the Southwest; and finding inspiration in nature for their creations of abstract versions of the world in their art. By sharing stories around their connections, the Foundation aims to contribute to a larger narrative about artists in America – they do not all work in isolation; rather, they inspire one another and find ways to connect through friendship.”




For more information visit Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

IN CONVERSATION ONLINE – Frank Vaccaro on Tony Vaccaro

 Via Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

 Taliesin West

October 5, 2023

Explore the Life and Lens of Legendary Photographer Tony Vaccaro!

Michael A. “Tony” Vaccaro (1922 – 2022), was an American photographer perhaps best known for his World War II photos. After the war, he became a fashion and lifestyle photographer for American magazines, capturing the joys and beauties of the world we live in. He lived to be 100 years old.

Join us on October 5, 2023, for an exclusive online conversation with Tony Vaccaro’s son, Frank. He will share invaluable insights into his father’s remarkable legacy and unveil his father’s captivating story. We’ll delve deep into Tony’s early career, the different chapters of his life, and get unique insights into his time with O’Keeffe and Wright ahead of the debut of American Icons: Wright & O’Keeffe at Taliesin West opening on October 20.

Details:

Links for virtual programs will be sent via email in advance.
If you have any questions about Cultural Programs at Taliesin West, please refer to our FAQ.  

Time:
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Online

Price:
Adults $25
Students (13-25 with student ID) $17
Members $22.50

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Members receive discounts on Cultural Programs, have access to special Member-Only programs, and more. Learn about Membership here.

BUY TICKETS

Frank Vaccaro is the eldest child of photographer Michael A. “Tony” Vaccaro and Marimekko model Anja Kyllikki Lehto. He was born in Rome, Italy, in 1965 while his father was on assignment. Frank came of age surrounded by the stories and images that make up the Tony Vaccaro collection of photographs. After graduating Stony Brook University in 1988, Frank managed bars and restaurants in New York City before joining Pepsi Cola in 1994. For the last eighteen years, Frank has been the elected representative for over 150 unionized workers there.

At his father’s request, Frank and his wife Maria created and launched the Tony Vaccaro Studio in 2015. The studio organizes over 800,000 images, and partners with the Monroe Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Upon Tony Vaccaro’s passing last year, Frank and his wife created the Tony Vaccaro Archive in Long Island City, Queens.

American Icons: Wright & O’Keeffe, a new photography exhibition spotlighting Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O’Keeffe as photographed by Tony Vaccaro

 

Via Experience Scottsdale

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation continues to explore the ways that Wright connects with other iconic artists of his time through unique exhibitions at Taliesin West. As the latest iteration, the World Heritage Site will debut an exclusive “American Icons: Wright and O’Keeffe” exhibition this fall, offering guests the opportunity to view photographs of Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O’Keeffe – two legends of American art and architecture – taken by Michael A. “Tony” Vaccaro while on assignment for LOOK Magazine from 1957 to 1960, including some never-before-seen images.

The exhibition, curated by the Foundation in partnership with the Tony Vaccaro Studio in Long Island City, N.Y., and the Monroe Galleryin Santa Fe, N.M, renowned for its unrivaled vault of historic photography, will present a behind-the-scenes, intimate visual pairing of Wright and O’Keeffe in their homes and studios. Through Vaccaro’s images and excerpts from LOOK, the exhibition - on display in the Dining Room at Taliesin West - will offer a closer look into the similar lives of the two American geniuses, how they inspired one another and how their Modernist principles continue to inspire the public today. Tickets for the exhibition, which will run from Oct. 20, 2023, to June 3, 2024, will be included with an audio or guided tour purchase.

Wright and O’Keeffe are seen as giants in their fields but are rarely connected. Many are unaware that the pair met in 1942 and had a mutual admiration for one another’s work for many years, whilst sharing other similarities including their birthplace of rural Wisconsin; careers that took them to New York, Chicago and Japan; dwellings in the Southwest; and finding inspiration in nature for their creations of abstract versions of the world in their art. By sharing stories around their connections, the Foundation aims to contribute to a larger narrative about artists in America – they do not all work in isolation; rather, they inspire one another and find ways to connect through friendship.

“Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O’Keeffe are American Icons. Their legacies are larger-than-life, and their names are known worldwide. What’s lesser known is their connection; they met in person in the 1940s and corresponded over the years, sharing ideas, and exchanging gifts,” said Niki Stewart, exhibition curator and vice president and chief learning & engagement officer for the Foundation. “In this exhibition, we explore that connection through the intimate photographs of Tony Vaccaro, from their shared start in Wisconsin to the homes and studios they built in the American Southwest. I’m excited to bring Wright and O’Keeffe together again through these beautiful photographs.”

Vaccaro’s photos of Wright and O’Keeffe have visual symmetry, which is why they will be displayed in pairs. By partnering with the Monroe Gallery – Tony Vaccaro’s exclusive representation – the Foundation has access to many photographs not shown to the public previously. Through the exhibition, guests will not only learn about the relationship between Wright and O’Keeffe, but also about Vaccaro’s long and impressive career.

“Working with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation affords Monroe Gallery the opportunity to place Tony Vaccaro’s iconic portraits of American Modernist Masters, Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O’Keeffe, together in conversation with the visitors to Taliesin West. Surrounded by the grace of Wright’s architecture, O’Keeffe and Wright as Tony Vaccaro understood them are reunited within their century’s glorious creative context,” said Monroe Gallery owners Michelle and Sid Monroe.

A Pop Up selection of Tony's photographs is also on view at The Monroe Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe, NM, through December 31, 2023.

Tony Vaccaro centennial exhibition on view at Monroe Gallery of Photography

 Via Art Daily

December 23, 2022

A glowing sunset portrait of the twin towers of the World Trade Center from 1979

SANTA FE, NM.- A new exhibitions celebrates the 100th birthday of acclaimed photographer Tony Vaccaro in Santa Fe. The show has been on view at Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe since November 25, 2022, and will end on January 29, 2023.

Vaccaro is known for his photographs of WWII, which were the subject of a 2016 HBO documentary, and his editorial work for Life, Look, Newsweek, Vanity Fair and countless other publications. The exhibitions coincide with Tony Vaccaro 100! on view at the Museum für Photographie in Braunschweig, Germany. In both locations, Tony Vaccaro: The Centennial Exhibition, juxtaposes the living legend’s powerful war images with the lyrical mid-century fashion, film, and pop culture photographs that came later.

On view are more than four dozen photographs dating from 1944-1979. From the battlefields of Europe to the rooftops of Manhattan, Vaccaro trained his inimitable lens with a sensitivity derived from early hardship as an orphan in Italy. After the war, he replaced the searing images of horror embedded in his memory, by focusing on the splendor of life and capturing the beauty of fashion and those who gave of themselves: artists, writers, movie stars, and cultural figures. From a photograph of a running soldier in 1944’s Battle of the Bulge to a shot of the actress Gwen Verdon swinging in a hammock against a New York skyline, the exhibition illustrates Vaccaro’s will to live against all odds and to advance the power of beauty. Several never-before-exhibited photographs are on view: a 1951 image of a bevy of beautiful women surrounding one in a pink dress on a balcony, a 1968 shot of Vaccaro holding up a test strip during a photo shoot, and a glowing sunset portrait of the twin towers of the World Trade Center from 1979.

As Vaccaro passed his 100th birthday on December 20, 2022, he has survived two bouts of Covid, and is one of the few people alive who can claim to have survived the Battle of Normandy and Covid. He attributes his longevity to “blind luck, red wine and determination.”

“To me, the greatest thing that you can do is challenge the world,” said Vaccaro. “And most of these challenges I win. That’s what keeps me going.”

Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, on December 20, 1922, Michelantonio Celestino Onofrio Vaccaro spent the first years of his life in the village of Bonefro, Italy, after his family left America under threat from the Mafia. Both of his parents had died by the time he was eight years old, and he was raised by an uncaring aunt and a brutal uncle. His love of photography began in Bonefro where at age ten, he began taking pictures with a box camera. When World War II broke out, the American ambassador in Rome ordered Vaccaro to return to the States. He settled in with his sisters in New Rochelle, N.Y., where he joined his high school camera club. His teacher and mentor Bertram Lewis guided him through a year of concentrated apprenticeship.

A year later, at the age of 21, Vaccaro was drafted into the war. He was determined to photograph the war, and had his portable 35mm Argus C-3 with him from the start. By the spring of 1944 he was photographing war games in Wales. By June, now a combat infantryman in the 83rd Infantry Division, he was on a boat heading toward Omaha Beach, six days after the first landings at Normandy. For the next 272 days, Vaccaro fought and photographed on the front lines of the war. He entered Germany in December 1944, as a private in the Intelligence Platoon, and was tasked with going behind enemy lines at night. In the years after the war, he remained in Germany to photograph the rebuilding of the country for Stars and Stripes magazine.

Returning to the States in 1950, Vacarro started his career as a commercial photographer, eventually working for virtually every major publication: Flair, Life, Look, Harper’s Bazaar, Quick, Newsweek, Town and Country, Venture, and many more. Tony went on to become one the most sought after photographers of his day, photographing everyone from Enzo Ferrari and Sophia Loren to Pablo Picasso, Peggy Guggenheim and Frank Lloyd Wright. From 1970 to 1980 he taught photography at Cooper Union.

“Il Maestro,” as the Italian press calls him, has won numerous honors and awards. These include the Art Director’s Gold Medal (New York City, 1963), The World Press Photo Gold Medal (The Hague, 1969), The Legion of Honor (Paris, 1994), The Medal of Honor (Luxembourg, 2002), Das Verdienstkreuz (Berlin, 2004), and the Minerva d’Oro (Pescara, 2014).

Since retiring in 1982, Vaccaro’s work has been exhibited world-wide over 250 times and has been published or been the subject of ten books and two major films. In 2014, the Museo Foto Tony Vaccaro was inaugurated in Bonefro, Italy.

Vaccaro’s works are in numerous private and public collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

In 2016, HBO Films premiered Under Fire: The Untold Story of Private First Class Tony Vaccaro. The film tells the story of how he survived the war, fighting the enemy while also documenting his experience at great risk, developing his photos in combat helmets at night and hanging the negatives from tree branches. The film also encompasses a wide range of contemporary issues regarding combat photography such as the ethical challenges of witnessing and recording conflict, the ways in which combat photography helps to define how wars are perceived by the public, and the sheer difficulty of staying alive while taking photos in a war zone. The film has led to a career renaissance for Vaccaro.

In 2018, Vaccaro’s photographs were featured in major one-person exhibitions in Venezia, Italy; Potsdam, Germany; London, England; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2019, he was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame in St. Louis, Mo. In 2021 the Kunsthalle Helsinki presented the exhibition Tony Vaccaro: Life Is Wonderful, a selection of 130 images from his career of nearly 80 year

Photographer Tony Vaccaro, 99, captures ‘beauty of life’ — from WWII to haute couture

 Via The NY Post

December 10, 2022

What began as a childhood pastime in Italy turned into a career that took Tony Vaccaro around the world Photo credit  Manolo Salas

Tony Vaccaro took his first picture when he was 10 years old and living in Italy. He soon started toting a camera everywhere — to school, on camping trips, a visit to the Vatican, and eventually to the frontlines of World War II, where, as an American soldier, he documented the Battle of the Bulge, the Liberation of France and the tragic deaths of his comrades.

After that, Vaccaro vowed he would devote himself not to the brutality of war, but to “beauty.”

“I said to myself, ‘You must photograph those people who give mankind something,’” the 99-year-old photographer, who lives in Long Island City, told The Post. “And I went after them — all of them.”

He sure did: Vaccaro has snapped everyone from Jackson Pollock to John F. Kennedy, Jr., Sophia Loren, Lee Krasner, Frank Lloyd Wright — who gave Vaccaro one of his canes, which the shutterbug still uses today — and countless other luminaries, who often became his friends.

Vaccaro turns 100 on Dec. 20, and a new exhibit celebrates his extraordinary life and career. “Tony Vaccaro: The Centennial Exhibition” runs Dec. 13 to 18 at the Monroe Gallery of Photography pop-up at 21 Spring St., Nolita. It features some two dozen images from a deep body of work, from harrowing war photos to whimsical fashion shoots to portraits of celebrities and artists, including Eartha Kitt and Georgia O’Keeffe.

“In the process of doing that, I hope I gave mankind something back,” Vaccaro said.

Now nearly 100, Vaccaro has snapped countless celebrities, creatives and other luminaries.

Phot credit  Manolo Salas

Vaccaro likes to joke that he has survived the Battle of Normandy and two bouts of COVID, but his entire life story is one of remarkable resilience. Born in Greensburg, Penn., on December 20, 1922, he spent his early childhood in Italy after his family had to flee the States under threat of the Mafia. By the age of 5, both of his parents were dead.

“I was raised by my uncle, who physically abused me,” Vaccaro said. “But he did give me my father’s box camera, and my love for photography was born.”

As fascism swept through Italy, a teenaged Vaccaro went back to the States, reuniting with his two sisters in Westchester County. As an immigrant who didn’t speak English, carrying his camera, which he used to document his classmates and their adventures, made him feel accepted.

As a young immigrant who didn’t speak English, Vaccaro found that his camera helped him feel accepted.  Tony Vaccaro with test strip, NY, 1960

Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

At 21, he was drafted into the US Army. He carried his 35 mm Argus C3, along with his gun, to the frontlines. He used army helmets to develop his film at night and hung the prints on tree branches to dry. He was shot and injured twice and got a purple heart. Afterward, he used his experience shooting on the front lines to bring life and spontaneity to the staid world of fashion shoots, much like Richard Avedon and Gordon Parks.

Vaccaro retired in the 1980s, but he still takes pictures of his 8-year-old twin grandchildren, Luke and Liam (who live in the apartment across the hall from him in Queens), and even photographed the New York City Marathon in November. He also shares an incredible array of vintage snaps on Instagram — @tonyvaccarophotographer — with the help of his daughter-in-law, Maria.

Two weeks ago, he went to the hospital with a burst stomach ulcer, and was still recovering from surgery when he spoke with The Post last week. (His son, Frank, helped Vaccaro form his responses, jogging his memory.)

Still, he has not lost his boundless zest for life.

Vaccaro with a photo of Willem de Kooning — the abstract expressionist artist was one of many 20th century boldface names to befriend the photographer over the years.Manolo Salas

“I feel super,” he said over the phone from his hospital bed, adding that he credits “chocolate, red wine and determination” for his longevity.

“I have been lucky,” he said. “I want the world to know the beauty of life.”

Tony Vaccaro’s “White Death”   Tony Vaccaro, courtesy of Monroe Gallery

Vaccaro snapped this stark photo of a fallen soldier lying face down in the snow before he realized the body belonged to his friend, Pvt. Henry Irving Tannenbaum. More than 50 years later, Tannenbaum’s son Sam contacted Vaccaro to ask about his father, and the two ended up going to the field where he had been killed. “I was confused to find that the field had transformed into a forest — pine trees everywhere,” Vaccaro recalled. “The land owner told us that it wasn’t actually a forest, but that the field is used for growing Christmas trees to be sold in Spain. Can you imagine — tannenbaum means Christmas tree in German!”

Tony Vaccaro’s “Kiss of Liberation,” 1945.Tony Vaccaro, courtesy of Monroe Gallery

Vaccaro often credits this photo of American soldier Gene Costanzo kissing a small French girl in St. Briac, Brittany at the end of the war as his favorite picture. “The day we liberated this small town in France I will never forget,” he wrote in an Instagram post. It was an early summer morning and when news of the liberation broke, women and children flooded the streets. “I was lucky that the French kiss three times [instead of one]. Otherwise I may have missed this warm moment between the soldier and this little girl.”

Tony Vaccaro’s “Defeated Soldier,” 1947.Tony Vaccaro, courtesy of Monroe Gallery

After the war, Stars and Stripes magazine asked Vaccaro to stay in Europe to document the rebuilding of Germany. As he was leaving the US embassy in Frankfurt to pick up his passport, he stumbled upon a German soldier crying outside what was once his home. “He had lost his wife and children,” Vaccaro said. “He had apparently been released from a prisoner camp in Texas or Oklahoma.” The experience of getting to know the enemy made him realize “we all bleed the same blood.” “When we got to know each other we were not much different,” he said.

Georgia O’Keeffe at home in 1960.Tony Vaccaro Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

Vaccaro was assigned to photograph then 72-year-old artist O’Keeffe at her home in New Mexico for Look magazine in 1960. But when he arrived, she refused to look at him. “She was expecting a different photographer,” Vaccaro said. After five days of ignoring him, she mentioned something about Manolette, considered the greatest bullfighter of all time. “I told her that I had photographed Manolette and that I could send her a photograph,” Vaccaro recalled. “So she turned towards me, and for the next two days, never looked, nor talked, to the writer [who had accompanied Vaccaro for the story], Charlotte Willard.” Willard left “in a huff,” and Vaccaro stayed nearly two weeks, snagging scores of intimate portraits.

Gwen Verdon on a New York City rooftop in 1953.Tony Vaccaro, courtesy of Monroe Gallery

The Tony Award-winning actress, dancer and choreographer Gwen Verdon was one of Vaccaro’s favorite fashion subjects. “She was a sensation,” he recalled. “She did anything and tried everything.” The photographer was shooting Verdon for a quickie fashion shoot and had to improvise something on the outside balcony of the 12th floor of LOOK magazine, so he tied a hammock and instructed Verdon to lounge on it. “I also had a basket of apples at the studio that day, and we ended up rolling them all on the floor of the photoshoot.”

Givenchy at home with partner Phillip in 1961.Tony Vaccaro  Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

Vaccaro struck up a friendship with the French couturier Hubert de Givenchy after photographing him and his designs for various magazines. After one shoot, Vaccaro joined Givenchy and his partner Philip by their pool and taught the designer how to use a camera, which Vaccaro of course documented with his own point-and-shoot.

 

Eartha Kitt at Givenchy’s showroom in 1961.Tony Vaccaro, courtesy of Monroe Gallery

Vaccaro caught the frenzy chaos of a fitting with superstar Eartha Kitt at Givenchy’s Paris showroom. To the right, you can spot the shutterbug holding his camera, “just having fun.”
The Fashion Train, New York, 1960

Tony Vaccaro’s “The Fashion Train” 1961Tony Vaccaro  Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

Vaccaro took this picture in 1960 for Good Housekeeping of a fashion model walking through a smoke-filled train. He strove for naturalism in his fashion shoots. “Over time I was able to remove anything artificial – even poses,” he said. “I put my subjects in an environment — their favorite environment — and then I took photos.”

Tony Vaccaro’s “Fun in Finland” 1965. The model on the left, Anja Lehto, would later become his wife.Tony Vaccaro  Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

Vaccaro shot many campaigns for the Finnish brand, Marimekko, mainly because he was in love with one of the company’s models, Anja Lehto, shown here on the left. “I met her in 1961, when LIFE magazine sent me to 57th Street, between Park and Madison, to photograph [the brand],” he recalled. “Girl number one came in, did her walk, girl number three, girl number four — I looked at her and said, ‘That’s my wife.’” It took a couple years and photoshoots — Lehto was married to Finnish royalty at the time — but the two got hitched in 1963 and had two children. (She died in 2013.)
38

Tony Vaccaro’s “The Guggenheim Hat” 1960 Tony Vaccaro  Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

Vaccaro had incredible freedom in his photo shoots, and when LOOK magazine sent him this sculptural hat to shoot for a story, he immediately knew he wanted to photograph the model Isabella wearing it in front of his favorite museum, the Guggenheim in New York City.

Tony Vaccaro The Centennial Exhibition New York Pop Up December 13-18, 2022

21 Spring Street, NY

Tony Vaccaro The Centennial Exhibition Santa Fe ongoing through January 15, 2023

112 Don Gaspar Avenue, Santa Fe, NM

Tony Vaccaro 100: A Life of a Photographer from War to Culture

 

Via Photography in Berlin

October 1, 2022

A Life of a Photographer from War to Culture

Curated by Barbara Hofmann-Johnson, Director Museum für Photographie Braunschweig.

The Museum für Photographie Braunschweig shows for the 100th Birthday of Tony Vaccaro (* December 20, 1922 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, lives in Long Island, NY) an exhibition of the American photographer of Italian descent and presents important and award-winning works from different creative phases. These include photographs taken during and after World War II in Europe and important portraits of artists, musicians, politicians and cultural figures.

With a special sense for composition and the connection to the outside space, fashion photographs are also part of Tony Vaccaro’s work. Some of the artistically staged fashion shots are part of the exhibition, especially those that were taken for a documentary for Marimekko, the Finnish design house in the 1960s, are particularly noteworthy.

The exhibition at the Museum für Photographie Braunschweig is created in cooperation and with the support of Tony Vaccaro Studio, New York City, USA and the Monroe Gallery of Photography Collection, Santa Fe, NM, USA.

Museum für Photographie Braunschweig

Helmstedter Straße 1 · 38102 Braunschweig
Opening hours: Tue – Fri 1 – 6 pm, Sat & Sun 11 am – 6 pm
Admission: 3,50 € / reduced 2,00 €. Happy Thursday: Free admission & extended opening hours until 8 pm & guided tour at 6 pm every first Thursday of the month.

Monroe Gallery of Photography will announce two additional major exhibits celebrating Tony Vaccaro's 100th birthday. "Tony Vaccaro: The Centennial Exhibition" will be on view in Santa Fe, NM and New York, NY - details to be announced

Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to announce major exhibitions celebrating Tony Vaccaro’s 100th birthday

 

Via Museum für Photographie Braunschweig · 

TONY VACCARO 100!

A Life of a Photographer from War to Culture

Tony Vaccaro: Entering Germany, Frankfurt Germany, 1947

© Tony Vaccaro Studio, Courtesy of Monroe Gallery of Photography and the Tony Vaccaro Studio

The Museum für Photographie Braunschweig shows for the 100! Birthday of Tony Vaccaro  (born December 20, 1922 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, lives in Long Island, NY) an exhibition of the American photographer of Italian descent and presents important and award-winning works from different creative phases. These include photographs taken during and after World War II in Europe and important portraits of artists, musicians, politicians and cultural figures.

With a special sense for composition and the connection to the outside space, fashion photographs 
are also part of Tony Vaccaro’s work. Some of the artistically staged fashion shots are part of the exhibition, especially those that were taken for a documentary for Marimekko, the Finnish design house in the 1960s, are particularly noteworthy.


The exhibition at the Museum für Photographie Braunschweig is created in cooperation and with the support of Tony Vaccaro Studio, New York City, USA and the Monroe Gallery of Photography Collection, Santa Fe, NM, USA.

Museum für Photographie Braunschweig · Helmstedter Straße 1 · D-38102 Braunschweig

Supported by: City of Braunschweig, Foundation of Lower Saxony, MWK, DB, Wine Shop Bremer

Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to announce major exhibitions celebrating Tony Vaccaro’s 100th birthday. "Tony Vaccaro 100" is at the The Museum für Photographie Braunschweig in Germany October 1 - December 4, 200. "Tony Vaccaro: The Centennial Exhibition” opens in Santa Fe, NM on Friday, November 25, with Tony Vaccaro appearing remotely live from his New York home at 5:30 pm. The exhibition will continue through January 15, 2023.

A special satellite exhibit in New York City will be on view at the Monroe Gallery of Photography "pop up", 21 Spring Street, New York City, December 13 – 18. Tony Vaccaro will be in attendance on the evenings of December 14 – 17, RSVP required, please contact the Gallery.

Portraits, Personalities, Passion: The Photography of Tony Vaccaro Exhibit at The Rye Arts Center April 7th – May 13th.

 Via Arts Westchester

Tony Vaccaro: Guggenheim Hat, New York, 1960

The Rye Arts Center is proud to present its second exhibition of works by world renowned photographer Tony Vaccaro, following its 1992 exhibit “The Vision of Tony Vaccaro – a Fifty Year Retrospective.” Curated by Patrick Cicalo and Gail Harrison Roman, the exhibition demonstrates how Tony’s visually eloquent photographs provide a cultural history of his time, providing a record of figures in arts and letters and in public life, and scenes of war and death.

As a combat photographer in the Second World War, Tony captured on film wartime images that evoke the determination and camaraderie of soldiers in combat, the pathos of defeat and death, and the joy of liberation, all represented in the exhibit.

Upon his return to the United States, Tony took up fashion and celebrity photography working for major magazines of the postwar era: Harper’s Bazaar, Flair, Life, Look, Newsweek, Time, Vogue, and other popular news and fashion magazines. He amassed a treasure trove of celebrity images from the worlds of television and film, art and architecture, politics, and fashion. Included in this exhibition are portraits of Irving Berlin, Leonard Cohen, Givenchy, Georgia O’Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, and Frank Lloyd Wright, and others.

Much of what is creative in photography today has its birth behind Tony’s lens. His pioneering work in visual interpretation and artistic presentation was a catalyst in the advancement of magazine photojournalism and celebrity portraiture. A selection of Tony’s cameras and memorabilia will be on view as well.

A special section of Tony’s cameras and personal memorabilia, curated by Sarah Mackay, will be on view in the Gallery.

Photographs in the exhibition appear courtesy of Tony Vaccaro Studio and the Monroe Gallery of Photography. 

Tony will speak about his work at the Opening Reception, free and open to the public, on Thursday, April 7th from 5:30-7:30pm. Reservations are suggested but not required.

The exhibition will be on view at The Rye Arts Center from April 7th – May 13th.

Gallery hours are Mondays, 9am-3pm; Tuesdays – Fridays, 9am-7pm; Saturdays, 9am-3pm; closed on Sundays.

For more information, go to www.ryeartscenter.org

Voice of America: 98-Year-Old NYC Photographer Tony Vaccaro Shows Life as Is – From WWII to Today

 

Via Voice of America

December 9, 2021

98-year-old photographer Tony Vaccaro was a simple infantryman, but he unofficially photographed World War II for 272 days. Anna Nelson met with Vaccaro to talk about his role in documenting the war. Anna Rice narrates her story.

 

 The exhibition "Tony Vaccaro at 99" continues through January 16, 2022

Monroe Gallery of Photography: Tony Vaccaro 99th Birthday Exhibition

Via L'Oeil de la Photographie

November 25, 2021

In what has become an annual tradition, Monroe Gallery of Photography presents a special exhibition celebrating the birthday of renowned photographer Tony Vaccaro – this year honoring his 99th birthday – on December 20.

The exhibit of over 40 photographs spans Tony’s 80-year career and features several never-before-exhibited photographs. Nearing age 99, Tony Vaccaro is one of the few people alive who can claim to have survived the Battle of Normandy and COVID-19.

As the world has endured nearly two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the work of Tony Vaccaro serves as an antidote to man’s inhumanity; by focusing on the splendor of life, Tony replaced the images of horror embedded in his eyes from war’. Full post with slide show.

 

TONY VACCARO AT 99

 

In what has become an annual tradition, Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to present a special exhibition celebrating the birthday of renowned photographer Tony Vaccaro – this year honoring his 99th birthday on December 20. The exhibit of over 40 photographs spans Tony’s 80-year career and features several never-before-exhibited photographs. The exhibit opens Friday, November 26, and continues through January 16, 2022. Nearing age 99, Tony Vaccaro is one of the few people alive who can claim to have survived the Battle of Normandy and COVID-19.

As the world has endured nearly two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the work of Tony Vaccaro serves as an antidote to man’s inhumanity; by focusing on the splendor of life, Tony replaced the images of horror embedded in his eyes from war.

Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania on December 20, 1922, Tony Vaccaro spent the first years of his life in the village of Bonefro, Italy after his family left America under threat from the Mafia. His mother died during childbirth a few years before tuberculosis claimed his father, and by age 5 he was an orphan in Italy, raised by an uncaring aunt and enduring beatings from an uncle. By World War II he was an American G.I., drafted into the war heading toward Omaha Beach, six days after the first landings at Normandy. Denied access to the Signal Corps, Tony was determined to photograph the war, and had his portable 35mm Argus C-3 with him from the start. For the next 272 days he photographed his personal witness to the brutality of war.

After the war, Tony remained in Germany to photograph the rebuilding of the country for Stars And Stripes magazine. Returning to the US in 1950, Tony started his career as a commercial photographer, eventually working for virtually every major publication: Look, Life, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, Newsweek, and many more. Tony went on to become one the most sought after photographers of his day.

UNDERFIRE: The Untold Story of Tony Vaccaro (trailer). from Cargo Film & Releasing on Vimeo.

Underfire: The Untold Story of PFC Tony Vaccaro is available from Apple and Amazon

 

Video Tour of the Tony Vaccaro Exhibition "Life is Wonderful"

 Via Helsingin Taidehalli (Helsinki Art Hall)

Tony Vaccaro: Fun in Finland, 1965

Helsingin Taidehalli has added video tours of the Tony Vaccaro exhibition "Life is Wonderful", in Finnish and English.

Tony Vaccaro, Life is Wonderful, guided tour in English from Taidehalli Helsinki on Vimeo.

Related video: Tony Vaccaro at 98

"Life Is Wonderfull" showcases the life's work of 98-year-old top photographer Tony Vaccaro from World War II to fashion and art

 

Via YLE (translated from Finnish)

June 13, 2021

BY STINA  ALAPIRTTI

Art Hall's summer exhibition is about war, love and Marimekko – a 98-year-old American photographer dreamed of an exhibition in Finland for a long time

The exhibition, called Life Is Wonderful, showcases the life's work of 98-year-old top photographer Tony Vaccaro from World War II to fashion and art. There are also plenty of pictures of Finland and Marimekko in the 1960s.

Tony Vaccaro came to Finland to film Marimekko for LIFE magazine in 1965. He photographed both Marimekko's fashion in Porvoo and Helsinki, as in this photo, and the fashion house's behind-the-scenes activities. Photo: Tony Vaccaro / Art Hall

Helsinki Art Hall is a life of history in itself, but photographs from the middle of the 20th century bring a new layer to it. In the photographs, world stars, soldiers and models come to life for a moment, as if there were small windows to the past on the walls. One room is dedicated entirely to Marimekko, who turns 70 this year.

Photographer Tony Vaccaro's exhibition will be on display at the Helsinki Art Hall during the summer Life is wonderful. Vaccaro is a 98-year-old American-Italian photographer who began his career filming on the front in World War II. He still works even though he retired officially as early as the 1980s.

Exhibition Manager Eeva Holkeri from The Art Hall of Helsinki says that Vaccaro has wanted to get the exhibition to Finland for a long time. Life is wonderful is his first extensive exhibition here.

"Vaccaro has a connection to Finland through his late wife Anja Vaccaro, but also through Marimekko. The gallery representing Vaccaro was asked if such an exhibition would succeed," Holkeri says.

Anja Vaccaro was related to Lehto. The photographer and Lehto, who worked as Marimekko's model, fell in love on the set of Marimekko.

Vaccaro's studio is now run by Vaccaro and Lehto's son Frank Vaccaro and his wife. 

The exhibition contains 130 photographs from Vaccaro's nearly 80-year career. According to Holker, the demarcation was a challenging task, but at present the exhibition creates a comprehensive picture of Vaccaro's production from the 1940s until the 1970s.

The pictures will be available at the Helsinki Art Hall in Töölö on 8 May. Until 18 August.

According to exhibition manager Eeva Holker, the Life is Wonderful exhibition shows a cross-section of Vaccaro's entire production. In the background, a fashion photo taken by Vaccaro. 

Photo: Terhi Liimu / Yle

Tough background

Michael "Tony" Vaccaro was born in 1922 in Pennsylvania, USA to immigrant parents from Italy. The family soon moved back to Italy, where they were met with great grief. Both parents passed away and Tony Vaccaro was orphaned at the age of four. Her sister was put in an orphanage, and little Tony was brought to her uncle's farm to be raised by her grandmother and uncle. Uncle abused Tony, who also had to work on the farm.

 
Tony Vaccaro left for the United States at the age of just 17, in the run-up to World War II in 1939. The departure was partly influenced by the fascism that invaded Italy. In the United States, Vaccaro went to high school and joined the army. He was sent to the front in 1944.

Vaccaro was interested in photography at school and bought his first camera in 1942. In the war, he was sent to the front line, and Vaccaro took about 8,000 photographs in the midst of the war. After the war ended, he stayed in Europe to photograph the trail and reconstruction of the war and returned to the United States in 1949.

Vaccaro fought in World War II and stayed after peace came to describe the reconstruction of Europe. This picture is from Nice, France dating back to 1947. Photo: Tony Vaccaro / Art Hall

Although the first half of Vaccaro's life was fraught with difficulties, even war, according to Eeva Holker, she has still maintained a bright attitude to life and a quest for beauty.

"Even though Vaccaro started his career in The Second World War, his pictures show hope, joy and a glimpse of positivity. It seems justified to say that Vaccaro's attitude to life is that life is wonderful," Holkeri says.

Celebrity photographer

Vaccaro is especially well known as a fashion and lifestyle photographer. He filmed for several of the most important US period publications of that time, such as Life and Harper's Bazaar. The exhibition features pictures he took of public figures from the 1960s and 1970s, including Pablo Picasso, Muhammad Ali, Leonard Cohen, Jackson Pollock and Sophia Loren.

A picture taken by Vaccaro of artist Georgia O' Keeffe in front of her work. Vaccaro spent a long time with Georgia O'Keeffe in New Mexico in 1960. Photo: Tony Vaccaro / Art Hall

A large part of the exhibition consists of pictures Vaccaro took of Marimekko's activities and fashion in 1965. Vaccaro came to Finland to describe Marimekko, who has become a phenomenon around the world, for Life magazine.

Marimekko was founded in 1951 and became an international phenomenon in the 1960s. Vaccaro photographed a fashion house in Porvoo and Helsinki in 1965. The photo shows models in Marimekko's clothes. Photo: Tony Vaccaro / Art Hall

Vaccaro photographed Finnish models in Porvoo and Helsinki, and in the pictures Marimekko's colourful dresses glow against the rainy industrial landscape and the models play in Finnish nature and on the streets of Helsinki.The pictures also show Vaccaro's future wife at the time: Finnish model Anja Kyllikki Lehto. Lehto and Vaccaro had met in 1963 in New York on Marimekko's business trip, on which Vaccaro had photographed Lehto."It is said that it was love at first sight. When Tony saw Anja, she knew she never wanted to let this go. Pictures of Anja show love, Holkeri says.Vaccaro and Lehto were married until 1979. They had two sons together. Lehto died in 2013.

This picture, called Anja and oranges, was shot in Ischia, Italy, in 1964. The photo shows Vaccaro's spouse Anja Kyllikki Lehto, later Vaccaro. Photo: Tony Vaccaro / Art Hall

View available original prints from Tony Vaccaro here

Fighter with a camera: Renown photographer, who battled COVID-19, will celebrate turning 98 with a virtual show

 Via The Albuquerque Journal

By Kathaleen Roberts

January 3, 2021

“The Violinist,” 1947, by Tony Vaccaro. Courtesy of Monroe Gallery

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Tony Vaccaro reigns as one of the few people to have battled both COVID-19 and the beaches of Normandy.

The photographer will celebrate his 98th birthday with a virtual show at Santa Fe’s Monroe Gallery of Photography through Jan. 17, at monroegallery.com.

Vaccaro contracted Covid early in the pandemic – in April. He spent two days in the hospital.

He couldn’t walk from room to room,” his daughter-in-law Maria said in a telephone interview from their home in Long Island City, New York. “He just stopped eating and had no energy.”

Vaccaro survived, despite a 103-degree fever.

“I am a runner,” he explained. “I’ve been running since I was a child.”

“Peggy Guggenheim, Venice, 1968” by Tony Vaccaro

Courtesy Monroe Gallery

He’s also a fighter who carried a camera from the invasion of Normandy through the reconstruction of Europe, capturing some of the most iconic images of World War II. Drafted at 21, he brought his 35mm Argus C-3 camera with him, spending the next 272 days photographing his personal witness to the carnage. He fought on the front lines, developing his photographs in combat helmets at night and hanging the negatives from tree branches.

                              

Photographer Tony Vaccaro 

Photo by R. David Marks

“Normandy to Berlin was just tough,” he said, “because you could get killed any minute. I was in the infantry and in direct contact with the Germans.”

After the war, he remained in Europe, covering the rebuilding of Germany for Stars and Stripes. It was in Italy that he heard the strains of a violin coming from a narrow Venetian street.

“I was in Plaza San Marco in Venice,” he said. “And I had an idea of going into the small streets. So I go in and there was a violinist playing, of course, for people to throw down money. When I heard this violinist, it intrigued me. I went into the tiny streets of Venice and don’t you know, I had met him before in Rome.”

He captured his famous portrait of an American GI kneeling to kiss a little girl by accident. He came upon residents of St. Briac, France, singing and dancing in the streets after the 1944 liberation.

“Kiss of Liberation,” 1944, by Tony Vaccaro

Courtesy Monroe Gallery

“There were these people holding hands and singing a song in French,” Vaccaro said. “Here’s this GI who knows not one word of French. They put a handkerchief under the knees of the little girl. It’s the symbol of a carpet for ladies.”

It was the Handkerchief Dance.

When Vaccaro returned stateside, he worked as a commercial photographer for Look, Life, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, Newsweek and more.

His portrait of the art patron Peggy Guggenheim features a hidden joke. On assignment to do a profile, he followed her to the Guggenheim Museum in Venice. A statue by the Italian sculptor Marino Marini guards the entrance.

“There’s a man on a horse and he’s naked and his penis was as long as half my arm,” Vaccaro said. “She had this habit of whenever she had new guests, she unscrewed it.”

Guggenheim expected a children’s tour group, so she unscrewed the phallus and hid it beneath her cloak. It’s concealed under the garment in Vaccaro’s picture of Guggenheim in the gondola.

“She didn’t want the children to see it,” he said.

“Georgia O’Keeffe, Abiquiú, New Mexico, 1960” by Tony Vaccaro

Courtesy Monroe Gallery

Vaccaro met Georgia O’Keeffe on assignment for Look magazine with art editor Charlotte Willard in Abiquiú in 1960.

The artist refused to speak to him for five days.

O’Keeffe had been expecting a different photographer, one of her favorites, such as Ansel Adams, Todd Webb or Richard Avedon. Trying his best to charm her, Vaccarro cooked the artist a steak and fixed her broken washing machine, to no avail.

“Georgia O’Keeffe at the very beginning didn’t want anything to do with me,” he said. “She didn’t even look at me. She had just left her husband.”

“Guggenheim Hat, New York, 1960” by Tony Vaccaro

Courtesy Monroe Gallery

Suddenly, the topic turned to bullfighting. Vaccaro mentioned he had photographed the great Spanish matador Manolete.

O’Keeffe pivoted to face him. She never looked at Willard again.

Vaccaro still works and goes for regular walks.

“I am shooting, but not as before,” he said. “Before it was survival. Somehow, I have an eye for what’s good before I can click it. I have seen so much that it is really an instinct.”

As for Covid, he said, “I have an idea that the body forgets what it doesn’t like.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Tony Vaccaro at 98”

WHERE: Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar Ave., Santa Fe

WHEN: Through Jan. 17

CONTACT: monroegallery.com, 505-992-0800.

How Tony Vaccaro Used Photography as the Antidote to Inhumanity

 

How Tony Vaccaro Used Photography as the Antidote to Inhumanity

Via BLIND

Dec. 1, 2020

by Miss Rosen

As his centennial approaches, Tony Vaccaro looks back at a singular life in photography that enabled him to survive both the Battle of Normandy and COVID-19, and work for Flair, Look, and Life during the golden age of picture magazines.

After a lifetime behind the camera, Tony Vaccaro is still going strong. After recovering from COVID-19 earlier this year, the Italian-American photographer, who turns 98 on December 20, has resumed his workout routine. On an unseasonably warm late November morning, he ran a 12:54 mile; not bad for the high school athlete who shaved 42 seconds off the record in 1943. “I plan at 100 to establish a new record for running a mile,” Vaccaro says from his home in Long Island City, Queens.

After Degas, Woman and Flowers, New York City, 1960 © Tony Vaccaro / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

It’s more than a notion; Vaccaro is a survivor par excellence. Born Michelantonio Celestino Onofrio Vaccaro in Greensburg Pennsylvania, in 1922, Vaccaro was just four years old when both his parents died while the family was relocating to Italy. The horrors of his childhood linger to this day, as the photographer recounts the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father’s brother while growing up in Italy.

“My uncle and his wife never had children and they didn’t know how handle them,” Vaccaro says. “Because of this, I was punished every day. I was black and blue for 15 years of my life, until I got in the Army. They looked and asked, ‘What happened to you, son?’ I couldn’t tell the truth, that people were beating me for everything I did wrong.”

Dominique Sanda, Cannes, France, 1975 © Tony Vaccaro / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

Though the bruises have healed, the memories remain tempered by a love his discovered as a teen. After World War II broke out in Europe, Vaccaro fled to the United States, and enrolled in Isaac E. Young High School in New Rochelle, New York. The young artist dreamed of being a sculptor but fate had other plans.

“Mr. Louis, a teacher, told me, ‘Tony, these sculptures are pretty good but you are born to be a photographer.’ I had never heard the word photography before,” Vaccaro says. “He told me, ‘You will make a great life with it,’ and by God he was right. I was then 14, 15. I’ve been a photographer for 85 years and I still feel very good.”

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Givenchy with camera by the pool, south of France, 1961 © Tony Vaccaro / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

The new exhibition, Tony Vaccaro at 98, looks back at the photographer’s extraordinary career, which began in earnest when he was drafted into World War II. Deployed to Europe as a private in the 83rd Infantry Division, which was nicknamed “Thunderbolt,” Vaccaro fought in Normandy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. As a scout, he was able to make photographs bearing witness to the horrors of war from the frontline. His images of death, destruction, and defeat stand as poignant reminders of the inhumanity of war, and the necessity for survival against the odds.

“I was wounded twice but I’m still here,” Vaccaro says. “I took pictures every day of GIs fighting, dying, being wounded, so I have a collection of pictures that I took then that I don’t think another photographer ever dared to live the kind of life I did.” 

Kiss of liberation: Sergeant Gene Constanzo knees to kiss a little girl during spontaneous celebrations in the main square of the town of Saint Briac, France, August 14th, 1944 © Tony Vaccaro / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

After being discharged in September 1945, Vaccaro remained in Germany, where he worked as a photojournalist Weekend, the Sunday supplement to U.S. Army newspaper Stars and Stripes for the next four years. He returned stateside in 1949, working for Flair, Look, and Life during the golden age of picture magazines.

Soon Vaccaro was traveling the globe, making stops everywhere from the source of the Nile River to the South Pole. He remembers an assignment for Venture magazine, where he traveled north along the Nile for over 40 days in 1963. The journey ended in Alexandria and a visit with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Standing along the waterfront, Nasser pointed to the Roman ruins that remained, and made a reference to Caesar, telling Vaccaro, "Look, your people were here 2,000 years ago!"

Finding Love Amid the Stars

Pablo Picasso, Mougins, France, 1967 © Tony Vaccaro / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

Over the next 25 years, Vaccaro would amass one of the greatest archives of fashion and celebrity photography, creating iconic images of artists such as Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alexander Calder, Jackson Pollock, W. Eugene Smith, and Marcel Duchamp, as well as Hollywood royalty including Marlene Dietrich, Lauren Bacall, Sophia Loren, Grace Kelly, and Ali McGraw.

Georgia O'Keeffe with "Pelvis" series painting, New Mexico, 1960 © Tony Vaccaro / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

“I always worked with people who were easy to be with,” Vaccaro says, recounting moments spent with everyone from fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy to filmmaker Federico Fellini. Vaccaro recounts his encounter with famous collector Peggy Guggenheim in Venice with aplomb. “If you go to her palazzo, you will see a statue of a man on a horse, and the sculptor gave the horse a penis as big from the tip of my fingers to my elbow. The day I went to photograph her, school children were coming to to visit her place, so she climbed on a ladder, and unscrewed the penis and hid it under her dress,” he says with a laugh. 

Peggy Guggenheim, Venice, Italy, 1968 © Tony Vaccaro / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

But perhaps the most special encounter he had was on assignment to photograph Marimekko, a Finnish home design and fashion company, where he met Anja Kyllikki, a model who would become his wife in 1963.“I went to a fashion show and they were 20 beautiful girls in the theater,” Vaccaro recalls. “One of them, our eyes met, and met, and met. I told her, ‘Look I feel as if I could marry you.’ And she said, ‘You took the words out of my mouth because I want to marry you.’ And that’s how I married my wife.”

Celebrating a Life in Photography

Gwen Verdon for LOOK, New York, City, 1953 © Tony Vaccaro / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

A true fighter, Vaccaro is one of the few people to survive both the Battle of Normandy and COVID-19. He attributes his longevity to the winning combination of “blind luck, red wine, and determination.” For Vaccaro, art has been the antidote for the inhumanity he has witnessed throughout his life. His spirit is filled with light and joy, and a faith in the future that includes us all.

“Mankind is an amazing animal,” Vaccaro says. “We have created so much: television, photography, monuments, great roads. The earth is paradise as far as I am concerned. We live in paradise, no question. My desire is for mankind to destroy the nations and just create one nation in the universe, one world.”

Leslie Uggams, 1963 © Tony Vaccaro / Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography




By Miss Rosen

Miss Rosen is a New York-based writer focusing on art, photography, and culture. Her work has been published in books, magazines, and websites including Time, Vogue, Artsy, Aperture, Dazed, and Vice, among others.

Tony Vaccaro at 98
On view through January 17, 2021
Monroe Gallery, 112 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA

https://www.monroegallery.com/