It will be the V&A’s largest temporary exhibition of photography to date
Sir Elton John is obviously best known for being a musician but he’s also a keen collector of photography and next year he’ll be showcasing just some of the works he owns with husband David Furnish. The V&A will be hosting the Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection exhibition, featuring over 300 prints from more than 140 photographers, many of which will be going on public display for the first time.
This is not Elton and David’s first rodeo – the pair loaned the V&A some Horst photographs in 2014 and the Tate Modern staged an exhibition of modernist photography from their collection in 2016 – but this exhibition, representing three decades of collecting, is shaping up to be something special. The show will cover the 1950s to the present day and feature images from the Civil Rights movement, AIDS activism and September 11th, as well portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Miles Davies and Chet Baker, with works from the likes of Horst. P Horst, Irving Penn, Herb Ritts, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cindy Sherman, William Eggleston, Diane Arbus, Sally Mann, Zanele Muholi, Ai Weiwei, Carrie Mae Weems and more.
The exhibition doesn’t open until next spring but all you photography fans will wanna get the dates in your diary.
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Sat 18th May 2024 – Sun 5th January 2025
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