PALM BEACHER HAD UP-CLOSE VIEW OF OBAMA WHITE HOUSE
There’s no shortage of pictures at Assouline, the luxury book and book accessory store that opened a branch Nov. 16 in the Royal Poinciana Plaza. After all, the store specializes in its own line of illustrated books on topics such as the world’s outstanding golf courses, Bulgari jewelry designs and a dream collection of Andy Warhols.
But rarely does it turn over about half its shelves to an actual exhibition. Owner Prosper Assouline has done that for “The Women,” a pop-up photography exhibition organized by friend James Danziger that will be on display Friday through Jan. 16.
Danziger, whose New York gallery has been showing topline photography since 1990, authored one of Assouline’s first books, “American Photographs 1900/2000.” That book was followed by “Beaton: The Art of the Scrapbook.” His background includes a stint as features editor under Tina Brown at Vanity Fair and serving as director of Magnum Photos.
Danziger knows Palm Beach well, as his parents became seasonal residents decades ago. He was on his way to Miami in December for fair week when he stopped by for the opening of The Bunker, Beth Rudin DeWoody’s private collector space in West Palm Beach.
When he toured the bustling Royal Poinciana Plaza, he was impressed by its revival. Naturally, he checked out Assouline. The store’s cozy ambience and wide shelves, where books are arrayed with their covers facing out, reminded him of an exhibition he held a few years ago at a similar space Assouline once occupied in London.
“There’s something about exhibiting pictures on a shelf that makes them seem very approachable,” Danziger said.
The 40 photos date from the 1920s to the present and include many famous names. Among the subjects: Queen Elizabeth, Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. The photographers include Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Berenice Abbott, Cecil Beaton and Irving Penn. Most are blackand-white images.
Given Palm Beach’s glamorous reputation, “it seemed natural to do a show on women,” Danziger said. “They’re one of the great subjects in photography.”
Danziger shared details of some of his favorites.
“Nuit de Noel” by Malick Sidibe portrays a young couple dancing on Christmas Eve in 1963 in Mali. Sidibe was unknown to the outside world until his work was discovered in the 1990s by Western curators and art dealers.
“This pictures shows how great imagery can come out of a local photographer with a great eye,” Danziger said.
Howell Conant’s 1955 photograph of Grace Kelly in Jamaica was taken from an unusual angle, showing the top of her head resting on her hands against a pillow.
What stands out to Danziger is “the fact that he realized he could make a photo of Grace Kelly where you barely see her face. All you see is her blonde hair. To me, this is about American blondeness.”
To create “Warhol Lips” in 1975, Warhol clipped lips from his photographic portraits, silkscreened them onto tape and affixed them to a page. He was fascinated by lips, as can be seen in his famous portraits of Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Chairman Mao.
Danziger admires “the graphic impact of the lips and the way every one is different,” he said. “They’re clearly recognizable as lips, yet they’re almost abstract.”
Assouline can’t afford to sacrifice so much space to photographs for long. But the store plans to hold author events, and possibly associated exhibitions, throughout the season, its owner said.
“I love the Royal Poinciana Plaza,” he said. “It has good, sophisticated energy. I want to make this place one of our best ones.”