Our Artist Spotlight this month is Richard Avedon. As I began reading more about him, I found several references and articles about his connection to the 1957 movie, “Funny Face”. Surprised? So was I.

It has been a long time since I watched the movie that starred a very young Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Kay Thompson, and a bevy of Hubert de Givenchy designed costumes. But, that is a whole blog post in and of itself. Let’s talk about the Avedon “connection”, shall we? You know how I compile trivia lists for you as my contribution to your “cocktail party conversation” repertoire, well here you go:

TOP 5 AVEDON CONNECTIONS TO THE MOVIE

“FUNNY FACE”

Leonard Gershe is the author of the fictional love story that ultimately became “Funny Face”. It seems that Gershe and Richard Avedon served in the Merchant Marines together and Gershe loosely based the story on his friend’s courtship and subsequent marriage to Dorcas (”Doe”) Nowell.
“Dick Avery” is the character played by Fred Astaire. The Avery character is a fashion photographer in the film that is purportedly based on Richard Avedon. Audrey Hepburn’s character is “Jo Stockton”. See the similarity of names there?
Avedon is credited as serving as a consultant to the movie. He provided many of the photographs which were featured in the movie scenes. The iconic, overexposed, close-up of Hepburn’s face may be the most recognized image.
In addition to his photographic contribution to the movie, Avedon also provided connection to top models with whom he regularly worked. Models who appeared in the movie include Suzy Parker and Dovima.
The fashion editor character, “Maggie Prescott”, was purportedly based on the two powerhouse fashion editors of Vogue (Diana Vreeland) and Harper’s Bazaar (Carmel Snow). Oh, the stories and quotes about these two real-life businesswomen are worth the read and I’ve linked a few articles below.

Now, it’s your turn. Have you watched the movie? What was your favorite dress, photograph, or scene?

Sources:
Wikipedia
The Guardian
MovieFone.com

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