George Hoyningen-Huené was a photographer, focused on travel and architectural photography, he is best known for the glamour photographs he took of Hollywood stars and high society, wherein he often brought much sculpture, draperies and other decoration into play.
Background
George Hoyningen-Huené was born on September 4, 1900 in Saint Petersburg City, Russian Federation. George Hoyningen-Huené was the only son of Baron Barthold Theodor Hermann (Theodorevitch) von Hoyningen-Huene (1859-1942), a Baltic nobleman, military officer and lord of Navesti manor (near Võhma), and his wife, Emily Anne "Nan" Lothrop (1860-1927), a daughter of George Van Ness Lothrop, an American minister to Russia. (The couple was married in Detroit, Michigan, in 1888.) He had two sisters Helen (died 1976) became a fashion designer in France and the United States, using the name Helen de Huene and Elizabeth (1891-1973), also known as Betty, also became a fashion designer (using the name Mme. Yteb in the 1920s and 1930s) and married, first, Baron Wrangel, and, second, Lt. Col. Charles Norman Buzzard, a British Army officer.
Education
During the Russian Revolution, the Hoyningen-Huenes fled to first London, and later Paris. By 1925 George Hoyningen-Huené had already worked his way up to chief of photography of the French Vogue where he was mentor to up-and-coming photographers including François Tuefferd. In 1931 he met Horst, the future photographer, who became his lover and frequent model[citation needed] and traveled to England with him that winter. While there, they visited photographer Cecil Beaton, who was working for the British edition of Vogue. In 1931, Horst began his association with Vogue, publishing his first photograph in the French edition of Vogue in November of that year.
Career
In 1935 George Hoyningen-Huené moved to New York City where he did most of his work for Harper's Bazaar. He published two art books on Greece and Egypt before relocating to Hollywood, where he earned a living by shooting glamorous portraits for the film industry.
He worked in huge studios and with whatever lighting worked best. Beyond fashion, he was a master portraitist of Hollywood stars to other celebrities. George Hoyningen-Huené also worked in Hollywood in various capacities in the film industry, working closely with George Cukor, notably as special visual and color consultant for the 1954 Judy Garland movie A Star Is Born. He served a similar role for the 1957 film Les Girls, which starred Kay Kendall and Mitzi Gaynor, the Sophia Loren film Heller in Pink Tights and The Chapman Report.
George Hoyningen-Huené died at 68 years of age in Los Angeles.
Orville Prescott, reviewing his book Hellas for The New York Times, writes that his photographs are "Magnificent, lovely as pictures and extraordinarily evocative in their capacity to stir the imagination."
Interests
Edward Steichen
Connections
In 1952 his cousin Baron Ernst Lyssardt von Hoyningen-Huene, whom he had adopted, married Nancy Oakes, the daughter of the gold mining tycoon Sir Harry Oakes. That union lasted until 1956 and produced one son Baron Alexander von Hoyningen-Huene, also known as Sasha.
Father:
Baron Barthold von Hoyningen-Huené
(1859-1942)
Mother:
Emily Anne "Nan" Lothrop
(1860-1927)
Sister:
Helen
Helen (died 1976) became a fashion designer in France and the United States, using the name Helen de Huene.
Sister:
Elizabeth
Elizabeth (1891-1973), also known as Betty, also became a fashion designer (using the name Mme. Yteb in the 1920s and 1930s) and married, first, Baron Wrangel, and, second, Lt. Col. Charles Norman Buzzard, a British Army officer.
Eye for Elegance: George Hoyningen-Huene
A collection of 50 black and white photographs by George Hoyningen-Huene, originally published between 1925 and 1943, and exhibited in 1980 by the International Center of Photography.
