A blond woman in a gold dress is standing in front of a red curtain with a wicked look and is on the phone. What at first glance looks like a Hollywood film scene is actually a 1991 advertising photo by star photographer Helmut Newton for the luxury brand Yves Saint Laurent May 14 can be seen.
Around 200 works from collaborations between the world-renowned photographer and brands such as Blumarine, Chanel, Absolut Vodka, Swarovski and Lavazza will be on display. According to the museum, around half of the motifs are still unknown. Newton (1920-2004), whose photographic estate is managed in his native Berlin, had worked for luxury brands and advertising agencies in the 1980s and 1990s.
As early as 2005, one year after Newton’s death, his commercial photography was shown in the exhibition “A Gun for Hire” in Monaco and in the Berlin Foundation. “Brands” will now be supplemented with further commissioned works in black and white and color, which come from the foundation’s archive. They were originally printed in magazines or calendars for exclusive customers.
Newton’s productions are typically characterized by curious and sometimes exaggerated contrasts. For example, the show shows an advertising campaign for the underwear manufacturer Wolford, in which models wear tight-fitting bodies and fine knee-high socks and stand in front of the rough coast of Monaco. (dpa)