1980 Fashion Photographers, Hastings Gallery; New York
1980 Masks, Mannequins and Dolls, Prakapas Gallery; New
York
2001 The Look: Images of Glamour and Style, Museum of
Fine Arts; Boston, Massachusetts
Selected Works
Bettina Jones, Beachwear by Schiaparelli, 1928
Josephine Baker, 1929
Lee Miller, Coiffure by Callon, 1930
Swimwear by Izod, 1930
Beach Fashion, c. 1930
Agneta Fischer Modeling Evening Gloves, 1931
Toto Koopman, Evening Dress by Augustabernard, 1933
Cary Grant, 1934
Tunisia, 1936
Lisa Fonssagrives, Evening Dress by Vionnet, 1938
Valley Temple of Khaf-Re, Egypt, 1943
Fallen Statue, Isle of Delos, c.1943
Further Reading
Ewing, William A.The Photographic Art of Hoyningen-
Huene. London: Thames and Hudson, and New York:
Rizzoli, 1986.
Ewing, William A.Eye for Elegance: George Hoyningen-
Huene. New York: Congreve, 1980.
Horst, Horst P.Salute to the Thirties. London: Bodley
Head, and New York: Viking, 1971.
Hoyningen-Huene, George.African Mirage: The Record of
a Voyage. London: Batsford, 1938.
Hoyningen-Huene, George.Hellas: A Tribute to Classical
Greece. New York: J.J. Augustin, 1943.
Hoyningen-Huene, George, and Alfonso Reyes.Mexican
Heritage. New York: J.J. Augustin, 1946.
Pucciani, Oreste, ed. Hoyningen-Huene. Los Angeles:
Friends of the Libraries, University of Southern Califor-
nia, 1970.GEORGE HURRELL
American
The name George Hurrell is synonymous with the
exacting art of Hollywood glamour portrait photo-
graphy. His technique involved precise lighting
and careful retouching of his negatives to produce
the flawless beauty, drama, and sensual allure
characteristic of his highly influential style. It was
Hurrell who was instrumental in creating ‘‘the look’’
of many legendary stars of Hollywood’s Golden
Age, often bolstering their careers and the success
of their films with his sophisticated, mesmeriz-
ing photographs.
Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, young George Hurrell
had developed an interest in drawing and painting
and later discovered photography as a way to repro-
duce his paintings. At the age of 16, he moved to
Chicago to study painting, first at the Art Institute of
Chicago and then at the Academy of Fine Arts, but
he left the program in 1922. In the same year, he
foundajobhandcoloringphotographsforacom-
mercial studio and moved from studio to studio until
the portrait photographer Eugene Hutchinson hired
him in 1924. While working for Hutchinson, Hurrell
learned the techniques of lighting, negative retouch-
ing, airbrushing, and darkroom work.
Growing impatient with work at the Hutchinson
studio and wanting to escape the cold Chicago win-
ters, Hurrell drove west and settled in an artists’
colony at Laguna Beach, California, in 1925. Al-
though he still harbored a desire to paint, he found
a lucrative business photographing artists, their
paintings, and the circle of rich and famous who
frequented the bohemian set in Laguna Beach. Es-
tablishing a reputation for fine portraiture among
the crowd, he eventually moved to Los Angeles in- There, he got his first opportunity to photo-
graph an actor when the socialite and aviatrix
Poncho Barnes recommended the young photogra-
pher to her friend, the actor Ramon Novarro.
Impressed with Hurrell’s photographs of Barnes,
Novarro commissioned a series of portraits. Thrilled
with the results and unimpressed with lackluster
studio photographers he had worked with in the
past, Novarro showed his new stills to other actors
at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studios.
The photographs caught the eye of actress Norma
Shearer. Shearer wanted the leading role inThe
Divorce ́ebut was unable to convince her husband,
MGM production chief Irving Thalberg, that she
had enough sex appeal for the part. She hired Hur-
rell to create a new image for her. Hurrell trans-
HURRELL, GEORGE