Art Kane

(1925-1995). American photographer, born in New York, in the Bronx, to a family of Russian Jewish immigrants. Art Kane, whose real name was Arthur Kanofsky, became famous as a graphic designer at a young age and, when 27, was hired by Esquire, the youngest art director of his time. He decided to become a photographer, and suffered a demanding apprenticeship under Alexey Brodovitch, the legendary art director at Harper’s Bazaar. By the end of the 1950s Kane had made a name for himself in photography as well, thanks to a very personal style. He was the first, in fact, to use an extreme wide-angle lens of 21 mm and produced well-known images shot close-up from below of models such as Verushka, Jean Shrimpton, and Margaux Hemingway, published by Vogue, Look, Life, McCall’s, Esquire and Harper’s Bazaar. In addition to his fame as a fashion photographer, he is known for his photos of musicians, especially jazz musicians.
Since his death, the artist’s archive has been managed and preserved by the Art Kane Estate. His son Jonathan is an expert on the work and one of its greatest supporters.
Kane’s celebrated photograph in which the rock band The Who is completely wrapped in the flag is imitated by other young groups such as Oasis and repeated twenty years later by the original English band.
The Govinda Gallery of Washington, D.C. mounted a solo exhibition for the artist, in collaboration with his foundation. Fashion photos and pictures of pop idols and various American celebrities were among the exhibited works.