Mario Testino, Julianne Moore at the Crillon Hotel, Paris 2008, 2010

Mario Testino

Julianne Moore at the Crillon Hotel, Paris 2008, 2010

C-type print on Fuji crystal archive supergloss paper

Signed and numbered 97/175 in black marker by Mario Testino on the front

Frame Included

Signed and numbered 97/175 in black marker by Mario Testino on the front

'Julianne Moore at the Crillon Hotel, Paris 2008' (2010) is set in the deeply luxuriant interior of the Crillon, an 18th Century masterpiece of neo-classical architecture, renowned for its display of delicate sculpture and extraordinary wood panels. In sheer lingerie but otherwise fully dressed with a belt, shoes, stole, and bedecked with jewelery, Moore looks caught in a moment of intimacy. Her gaze, however, holds us, confronting us with our desire as we become lost in the drenched flash lit moment, highlighting Moore's sensuality and the opulence of her surrounds."

from the publisher

Measurements:
Frame:
26 x 31.5 x 2 inches
Print:
18.5 x 23.5 inches

About Mario Testino:
Mario Testino OBE is widely regarded as one of the most influential fashion and portrait photographers. His photographs have been published internationally in magazines such as Vogue, V Magazine and Vanity Fair. He has contributed to the success of leading fashion and beauty houses, creating images for brands from Gucci, Burberry, Versace and Michael Kors to CHANEL, Estée Lauder and Dolce & Gabbana. In his latest series, A Beautiful World, he has created emblematic images, transgressing cultures and gender by documenting different communities around the world.

Alongside his 40-year practice as a photographer, Testino has realised a body of work as a creative director, guest editor, museum founder, art collector/collaborator and entrepreneur. In 2007, at the request of his clients he formed MARIOTESTINO+ which provided creative direction, art direction, brand strategy, graphic design, film and stills production, digital and social media, product development, books, exhibitions, licensing and partnerships.

Born in Lima in 1954 to a traditional Catholic family, remote from the worlds of fashion and Hollywood, Testino moved from Peru to London in 1976. It was during apprenticeships at the studios of John Vickers and Paul Nugent that he made his first attempts as a photographer, inspired by how photography masters documented the society of their times. His career began tentatively with a commission to photograph a girl’s haircut for British Vogue. The girl in the picture was stylist Lucinda Chambers and the shoot sparked a personal friendship and professional partnership that has lasted to this day. During the early nineties, Testino looked to his experience growing up in Peru and his long teenage summers in Brazil for inspiration, which helped him to create a unique and personal photographic language “I noticed an evolution in my work…when I tried to recreate my youth in pictures.”

Testino’s is an artistic vocabulary that has always transgressed gender, mixing and defying masculinity and femininity and suggests sensuality rather than sexuality. Suzy Menkes, Vogue’s Former International Editor explains, “Testino’s skill is first and foremost to catch the moment and to bring out the humanity in his subjects.” Testino’s subjects appear confidently alive; he captures their energy by creating an openness with them. Known for the extraordinary way in which he can capture private moments, Testino’s spontaneous, intimate portraits offer the viewer new perspectives on famous faces, often establishing new fashion icons. He has documented subjects from A-list stars, muses, supermodels and artists, to subjects that he has encountered throughout his travels, adding to his A Beautiful World series.

Testino was nicknamed the “John Singer Sargent of our times” by Terence Pepper, photography curator at The National Portrait Gallery in London. The Gallery’s 2002 Portraits exhibition attracted more visitors than any other show in the museum’s history at the time. Charles Saumarez Smith, then director of the NPG, compared Testino to court artists and portraitists from Holbein to Reynolds. “There is a strong relationship between Mario’s work and the general tradition of portrait artists. Just like court artists in the past, he works to a tight timetable and significant commercial constraints.”

One of Testino’s most memorable sittings to this day is his series with Diana, Princess of Wales. Commissioned for Vanity Fair in 1997, he said: “One of my greatest experiences in life was photographing Princess Diana. It’s not only that the experience itself was amazing, but she opened a door for me because I then started photographing the royal families of Europe. It is part of my love for tradition and family”. He has photographed many royals including The Prince of Wales, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, the King and Queen of Jordan and King and Queen of the Netherlands, The Crown Prince and The Crown Princess of Denmark, among others.

Aaron Hicklin of The Observer described him as “the world’s most prolific magazine and fashion trade photographer”. His persistence in shooting Gisele Bundchen and Kate Moss is widely credited with elevating their supermodel status. Testino started the Towel Series on his Instagram account in 2013, featuring influential people, including musicians, actors and models. In 2018 he started his A Beautiful World series to raise awareness of the value and beauty of cultural heritage all around the world.

Testino’s work has been exhibited at museums globally, among them the Nicola Erni Collection (Smile!, 2020), Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin (Undressed, 2017), Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (In Your Face, 2012), the Shanghai Art Museum (Private View, 2012), Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid (Todo o Nada, 2010), the Metropolitan Museum in Tokyo (Portraits, 2004) and Foam in Amsterdam (Portraits, 2003). Solo exhibitions of his work have been presented at galleries such as Hamiltons Gallery in London (East, 2019), Mary Boone Gallery in New York, Phillips de Pury in London, Yvon Lambert in Paris and Timothy Taylor in London. More than sixteen books have been published on his work including Portraits (National Portrait Gallery, 2002), Let Me In! (Taschen, 2007), In Your Face (Taschen, 2012), Alta Moda (Museo MATE, 2013), SIR (Taschen, 2015) and Undressed (Taschen, 2017), and Ciao (Taschen, 2020)

His growing personal collection of artworks ranging from painting to sculpture and photography has also been the subject of numerous shows. Testino’s relationship with fine art developed after frequent visits to galleries and artist’s studios. He said: “Just as photography is a vehicle for me to live a new moment, to go to a new place, meet a new person and so on, art is a process of encounter and discovery. The display of art for me is not just about seeing the work isolated in a white cube. It’s also about engaging with the art – and sometimes the artist – to make something new.” He has collaborated in the creation of some unique works with artists such as Keith Haring, Vik Muniz, John Currin and Julian Schnabel.

Testino was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2014 and Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2017, both in recognition of his career and charity work. In 2007, the state of Rio de Janeiro awarded him the Tiradentes medal for exceptional public service, and in 2010 he was appointed one of the highest honours in his native country, The Grand Cross rank of the Order of Merit of Peru for Distinguished Services. He became President of the Board of World Monuments Fund Peru in 2014. He has worked with Save the Children, amfAR, The Elton John Aids Foundation and CLIC Sargent for children with cancer. The arts are a source of joy to Testino to the extent that in 2012 he opened a non-profit museum in Lima. MATE – Museo Mario Testino was established to contribute to Peru through the cultivation and promotion of culture and heritage. For Testino, art is never static. It is something to be appreciated and collected as fragments that make up a greater mental library: a library in constant flow.

In October 2016, Testino opened the Parques Teresita playpark in association with Natalia Vodianova’s Naked Heart Foundation, the Provincial Municipality of Urubamba. Located in Cusco, Perú, Parques Teresita is named in memory of Testino’s late mother. The second Parques Teresita was opened in January 2019 in Ayacucho, at the Municipality of Huamanga. A third park was opened in March 2023 in Alto Selva Alegre, in Arequipa. It is estimated that the first two parks have impacted over 20 thousand families.

Publisher:
Counter Editions