Truman Capote

Artist Richard Avedon (American, 1923 - 2004)

Date1967

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 10 1/4 × 10 1/8 in. (26 × 25.7 cm)
Matt (Sink-Mount Window): 10 5/16 × 10 1/4 in. (26.2 × 26 cm)
Matt: 20 × 20 in. (50.8 × 50.8 cm)

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineGift of Marc Freidus, 1988

Object numberMF88.16

Richard Avedon was known for his stark portrait and fashion photographs of cultural icons. A particular fascination for him was the ability of a portrait to communicate the trademark qualities of its subject’s personality. Avedon’s friend and collaborator, the much-admired and controversial Truman Capote established his literary reputation with works such as the 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s and his 1966 “non-fictional” account of a quadruple homicide, In Cold Blood. Capote was the subject of many remarkable photographs in which his fierce gaze hints at the stormy intensity of mental labor underlying his writing. In this image, Avedon has captured a moment when Capote’s facial muscles relax somewhat, tempering the acute stare the author was frequently said to possess. Still, the dramatic shadows in this image would make it difficult to describe as tame. Capote’s eyes, nose, and mouth emerge so completely as to become recognizable, while the flattened silhouette of his ear hardly seems to belong to the same face. In pose and light, this photograph represents complexity both formally and thematically.

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Not on view