Richard Avedon (American, 1923-2004) Carmel Snow, circa 1950 Gelatin silver print, ferrotyped 12-1/2 x 10-3/4 inches (31.8 x 27.3 cm) (image) 14 x 11 inches (sheet) Signed and inscribed in ink, lower margin recto. Carmel Snow (1887-1961), the pioneering Editor-in-Chief of Harpers Bazaar, was considered the most powerful fashion arbiter in America from the 1930s to the 1950s. Born in Dublin, as a child she moved to New York with her widowed mother. During her formative years in the U.S., Carmel began to travel to the Paris collections with her mother, who now worked as a dressmaker to New York's socialites, and her love for fashion was ignited. Her first job was as assistant fashion editor at Vogue in 1921 where she was considered a rising star and, in 1926, she was appointed fashion editor of the magazine, By 1934, she had risen to the rank of editor-in-chief at rival publication Harper's Bazaar. Carmel was famous for coming into work each day with a ‘bag of scraps': notes, memos and clippings on things she thought her readers should know about. She was determined that the magazine should cater not only to the well-dressed woman but also the "well-dressed mind". Among Snow's many influential protégés were Alexey Brodovitch and Diana Vreeland, with whom she transformed Harper's originally dowdy image into something innovative, thoughtful, and stylish. Snow also championed many other people who then became household names, among them Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Lauren Bacall, Cecil Beaton, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Richard Avedon, who took this iconic portrait of Snow in her signature pearls and Balenciaga suit. When Avedon was asked why the legacy of such an influential force remains so little known, he remarked, "She faded before stardom became a thing. There weren't stars in her day". HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice