What Becomes a Legend Most: A Biography of Richard Avedon

Philip Gefter’s biography of Richard Avedon is compelling, enlightening and beautifully written. Avedon rose to the top of fashion photography before moving to the peak of portrait photography, all the while nursing an intense ambition in the service of exquisite taste, a vivid imagination and a reckless will to expand if not smash the boundaries of what art might be. There has probably never been in America a career quite like his — from the elegance of fashion to often savage portrayals of the power elite, from the commoners of the American West to the scary depictions of the photographer’s own dying father. Gefter tells this story with commanding research as well as sympathy, without denying to his readers an awareness of the emotional price that Avedon paid (and sometimes to inflict upon others) in his pursuit of artistic excellence.

Ive always loved literary reexaminations of artists who (fairly or not) were never given their due. In making their arguments, the best authors put their subject in contextproviding a rich historical backdrop of both the period and its players.

In his vibrant new Richard Avedon biography, What Becomes a Legend Most, Philip Gefter makes the case for Avedons place of achievement alongside his peers in the pantheon of 20th-century arts and letters, while examining the struggle for upward-mobility, haze of anti-Semitism and homophobia, and clash between culture and commerce that existed in post-war America. While the 550+ page book is as monumental as one of Avedons wall-size portraitsits equally rich in telling details. I was already an Avedon disciple, but Gefter had me considering certain artistic prejudices Id not realized were in me. Rare is the book that has you examining yourself as much as its subject.

This deeply satisfying biography reads as if it is a very good novel about a fascinating character, yet the character was a real person who had a lasting effect on the culture of his time. I sat down with this book initially thinking I was going to learn about how Richard Avedon revolutionized fashion photography, which I did, but I also learned so much more about how he became a world-renowned artist who made portraits of the most accomplished people of his era. It is an illuminating lesson in the history of photography along the way and also a cultural history of glamorous New York. So much fun to read. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Dick Avedon was my mothers cousin. They are both gone now. They were both coruscating life forces and Philip Gefter captured the full extent of it.

The book is magical. Its a non-fiction page-turner. A special trick. I wanted to understand how he did it. I examined his sentences. As I do every book that fascinates me. Every word is necessary and advances understanding. Nothing is redundant.Ike reading Eile Wiesels, Night. Gefter is a great writer. Really. Irrespective of the subject. He could write interestingly about a housewife mopping a floor. It was a joy to read and like all impactful books it was with regret that I turned the last page.

I have read many biographies of politicians, musicians, artists, scientists, and others over the years. Setting aside my love of photography, this is one of the best biographies I have ever read. The author does a superb job of describing what it was like to be a closeted gay person at mid-century, the relationship between art and commerce, and the insecurities that drive a great talent. The author also provides an excellent historical account of New Yorks cultural upper echelons. It would have been great fun to be at some of those gatherings. Highly recommended.