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A beautiful pursuit: Monroe Gallery exhibit looks through the lens of noted photographer Tony Vaccaro
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Tony Vaccaro photographed a world of beauty from a crucible of pain.
He photographed World War II from a soldier鈥檚 eye, documenting its brutality and horror. After carrying his camera across battlefields, he became one of the most sought-after photographers of his day, capturing everyone from Pablo Picasso to Ali MacGraw on film.
Open at Santa Fe鈥檚 Monroe Gallery of Photography, 鈥淭ony Vaccaro: The Pursuit of Beauty鈥� includes more than 40 photographs dating from 1944 to 1979.
Born in Pennsylvania, Vaccaro spent the first years of his life in the village of Bonefro, Italy, after his family left America under threat from the Mafia. Both of his parents had died by the time he was 8 years old and he was raised by an uncaring aunt and an abusive uncle. His love of photography emerged in Bonefro, where he began taking pictures with a box camera at age 10.
When World War II broke out, he returned to the States, living with his sister in a New York suburb, where he joined his high school camera club. A teacher spotted his talent and guided him through a year of apprenticeship.
Drafted at 21, Vaccaro was determined to continue photographing in combat. He fought on the front lines for 272 days, camera in hand. He entered Germany in 1944. He developed his photographs in combat helmets at night, hanging the negatives from tree branches.
In 1945, he photographed Adolf Hitler鈥檚 both sinister and beautiful window at the dictator鈥檚 retreat in the Bavarian Alps.
鈥淭hat massive window was filled with a very thick pane of glass,鈥� said Sidney Monroe, the gallery鈥檚 co-owner. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a haunting picture. It鈥檚 the ultimate conquest at the end of the war.鈥�
In the years after the war, Vaccaro remained in Germany to photograph the rebuilding of the country for Stars and Stripes magazine. He returned to the U.S. in 1950 and launched a career as a commercial photographer. He worked for Look, Life, Harper鈥檚 Bazaar, Town and Country, Newsweek and more.
After the war, he said he had seen enough carnage. He traded beauty for brutality.
In 1960, Vaccaro spent two weeks at Georgia O鈥橩eeffe鈥檚 Abiqui煤 home, photographing her for Look magazine.
鈥淥鈥橩eeffe was pretty notorious for not wanting to be interviewed or photographed,鈥� Monroe said. 鈥淪o Tony comes out with a writer and she gave them the cold shoulder. O鈥橩eeffe almost wouldn鈥檛 talk to him.
鈥淭ony told us at dinner the conversation shifted to bullfighting. O鈥橩eeffe was a fan of a famous Mexican bullfighter that he had photographed. That broke the ice. They bonded and formed a lifelong friendship.鈥�
The photograph captures O鈥橩eeffe鈥檚 legendary iconography, the skull between the canales and her rock collection scattered across a shelf.
鈥淪he鈥檚 in black and wearing her famous belt,鈥� Monroe said. 鈥淚t incorporates everything we think of when we think of O鈥橩eeffe.鈥�
The show marks the first time the photo has been exhibited.
鈥淢ost of the photographs were never published,鈥� Monroe said. 鈥淲e encouraged him while he was still alive to go to the files.鈥�
Vaccaro鈥檚 famous 1960 鈥淕uggenheim Hat鈥� photograph for Look magazine combines architecture with fashion to make art. The model鈥檚 hat mirrors the forms of the Guggenheim Museum.
鈥淭he Guggenheim had just really opened,鈥� Monroe said. 鈥淎t the time, it was sort of an instant classic.鈥�
The model in 鈥淎nja on Park Avenue鈥� became Vaccaro鈥檚 wife. Her heavily-patterned gown mimics the lights on the Pan Am building behind her. The Swedish designer Marimekko was known for its bold patterning. The photo has never been seen before.
In Venice, Italy, Vaccaro photographed Peggy Guggenheim leaving her home in a gondola in 1968. She was starting her museum in Venice.
鈥淪he had a big house there that held her art collection,鈥� Monroe said. 鈥淪he was fabulously eccentric.鈥�
The photo captures an angry Guggenheim hiding something beneath her blue cape.
Her yard featured a large bronze sculpture of a rearing horse.
The horse has a penis and the penis was removable.
A school group was about to enter the yard.
鈥淪he removed the penis,鈥� Monroe said. 鈥淭hat is under the cape. He wanted her to show it; that鈥檚 why she looks mad. It鈥檚 a wonderful marriage of subject and place.鈥�
In 2022, Monroe and his wife and business partner Michelle celebrated Vaccaro鈥檚 100th birthday in New York. The city of New York declared it 鈥淭ony Vaccaro Day鈥� and he was feted at his favorite Italian restaurant. He died eight days later, after surviving the Battle of Normandy and two bouts of COVID. He attributed his longevity to 鈥渂lind luck, red wine and determination.鈥�
