1930s - so much talent

The National Portrait Gallery is currently showing an exhibition of Vanity Fair photographic portraits from 1913 - 1936 and 1983 - 2008.

In his essay for the exhibition, Terence Pepper says 'The launch of Vanity Fair by the visionary publisher Conde Nast coincided with the birth of modernism, the dawning of the Jazz Age and the mould-breaking avant-garde art in the American public.'

The whole exhibition was incredible, with the (mostly small) photographs evoking a sense of wonder at seeing these historically great figures in such ordinary and natural ways, with the 1920s and 1930s quickly becoming my favourite sections.

Who could be anything other than inspired at seeing Adele and Fred Astaire in their twenties, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Rebecca West, Virginia Woolf, Pablo Picasso, Amelia Earhart, Claude Monet, Louis Armstrong, Greta Garbo, Babe Ruth, Jesse Owens, and Cary Grant all looking so normal with only a twinkle in their eye to betray their destiny for greatness.

Then there is W.C. Fields in his pajamas, a young Albert Einstein and D.H. Lawrence looking utterly shy and uncomfortable in front of the camera, plus a beautifully soft portrait of Ernest Heminway wearing a felt cap,

What can I say, it was a beautiful reminder of just how much talent came out of that period in time. If you are able, go see the exhibition...it is on until August 30, 2009.

I think I will treasure my copies of Vanity Fair all the more for having seen the great people they promoted, and often gave a start to, in the past.

Image 1: Louis Armstrong, by Anton Bruehl, 1935, publ. November 1935. Credit: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Image 2: Jesse Owens, by Lusha Nelson, 1935, publ. September 1935. Credit: Courtesy Condé Nast Archive