One of the greatest photographers of the mid-20th century, Irving Penn ranks alongside Cecil Beaton (1904-80), Norman Parkinson (1913-90), Helmut Newton (1920-2004) and Richard Avedon (1923-2004) as an important innovator in the field of fashion photography and portraiture. His camera art was instrumental in shaping post-World War II feminine chic and the glamour photography that promoted it. He was famous for formulating his pictorial ideas without unnecessary flourishes or irritating backgrounds, and for the compelling serenity of his works. He was also the author of a number of remarkable plant studies, still lifes, and a series of extraordinary ethnographical essays. A key contributor to American art, he was unquestionably one of the major camera artists of the 20th century. His career, which included more than 150 covers for Vogue magazine, as well as promotional photo-shoots for a wide variety of commercial clients (De Beers, General Foods, Issey Miyake, Clinique), is summed up in his acclaimed photobook Passage (1991). His photos continue to be exhibited in a number of the best contemporary art galleries in America.