Lisa Fonssagrives

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Lisa Fonssagrives as photographed by Edgar de Evia in his home in the Rhinelander Mansion
Lisa Fonssagrives as photographed by Edgar de Evia in his home in the Rhinelander Mansion

Lisa Fonssagrives (May 17, 1911February 4, 1992), born Lisa Anderson in Sweden, was a model, dancer, fashion designer, photographer and sculptor.

[edit] Biography

Lisa Fonssagrives has been credited as the first supermodel[1]. Her image appeared on the cover of many magazines during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s from Town & Country, Life and the original Vanity Fair. Fonssagrives' early training in ballet added to her grace and poise. She moved from Sweden to Paris to train for ballet. Fonssagrives once described herself as simply a "good clothes hanger"[1].

She worked with fashion photographers which included George Hoyningen-Huene, Man Ray, Horst, Erwin Blumenfeld, George Platt Lynes, Richard Avedon, and Edgar de Evia. She married Parisian photographer Fernand Fonssagrives in 1935; they divorced. She later married photographer Irving Penn in 1950.

Lisa Fonssagrives died at the age of 81, survived by her second husband, Irving Penn and her two children, daughter, Mia Fonssagrives-Solow, a costume designer and her son, Tom Penn, a designer.

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[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Rosemary Ranck, "The First Supermodel", The New York Times February 9, 1997online retrieved September 24, 2006

[edit] Bibliography

  • Gross, Michael: Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women, New York: W. Morrow, 1995, ISBN 0-688-12659-6
  • Seidner, David (ed): Lisa Fonssagrives: Three Decades of Classic Fashion Photography, New York: Vendome Press, 1996, ISBN 0-86565-978-8