Museum Hanmi hosts Building Icons: Arnold Newman’s Magazine World, 1938–2000 from November 29, 2024, to March 23, 2025, at Museum Hanmi Samcheong. The exhibition is an international tour of Building Icons: Arnold Newman’s Magazine World, 1938–2000, originally organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Canada in 2023. The Seoul exhibition is a reconstituted the presentation jointly curated by Museum Hanmi and AGO.

The exhibition showcases over 200 works and archives by Arnold Newman (1918–2006), created between 1938 and 2000 and drawn from AGO’s collection. These works include portraits not only of renowned artists such as Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol but also of diverse figures like chreographer Martha Graham, John F. Kennedy, and Igor Stravinsky. Newman is celebrated for his groundbreaking approach to portraiture, particularly through his ‘environmental portraiture’ style. Known for capturing the spirit of the post-World War II era, Newman created compelling portraits of iconic artists, composers, actors, and political figures, embedding them within meaningful environments that reflected their identities and achievements. Newman’s deep understanding of his subjects and meticulous direction uniquely positioned him as a leading photographer in the field of portraiture, allowing him to create widely recognized images that explore the lives of prominent figures in modern culture from diverse perspectives.

Newman’s career, spanning over 60 years, is illuminated in this exhibition through various lenses, including his early works, portraits of artists, and magazine commissions. His collaborations with major magazines such as Life, Harper’s Bazaar, and Fortune played an integral role in his career. By strategically employing stark contrasts, geometric forms, and spacing, Newman focused attention on his sitters and their surroundings. This approach complemented the magazine format, creating instantly recognizable images that left a lasting impact on readers. Newman’s work set new directions in portrait photography, inspiring many photographers of subsequent generations