{"id":620408,"date":"2026-10-04T14:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T14:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/620408\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T14:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T14:50:12","slug":"the-photographer-who-captured-the-glamor-of-hollywoods-golden-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/620408\/","title":{"rendered":"The Photographer Who Captured the Glamor of Hollywood\u2019s Golden Age"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>      <img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/npg_2022_42-marlenedietrich-1-632x800.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with wavy hair poses against a large, fluted white column, wearing a long, patterned, sleeveless gown.\" width=\"632\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881021\"   loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"sync\"\/>Marlene Dietrich, George Hurrell, gelatin silver print, c. 1935 National Portrait Gallery<\/p>\n<p>An exhibition celebrates the work of George Hurrell, the defining portrait photographer of Hollywood\u2019s 1930s and early 1940s, whose photographs still epitomize what we think of today as Hollywood glamor.<\/p>\n<p>The Smithsonian\u2019s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., is presenting a second installation of <a href=\"https:\/\/npg.si.edu\/exhibition\/star-power-sequel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood\u2019s Golden Age by George Hurrell<\/a>, featuring 20 of his vintage portraits of some of the most prominent film stars during the golden era of American cinema.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/npg_2022_56-dorothylamour-1-630x800.jpg\" alt=\"A black-and-white portrait of a woman with long eyelashes lying down, resting her head on her hand.\" width=\"630\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-879992\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Dorothy Lamour, George Hurrell, gelatin silver print, c. 1935 | National Portrait Gallery<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/npg_2022_38-clarkgable-joancrawford-626x800.jpg\" alt=\"Clark Gable and Joan Crawford dance together, with Crawford wearing a flowing white gown that billows out to the side.\" width=\"626\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881020\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Clark Gable and Joan Crawford, George Hurrell, gelatin silver print, 1936 | National Portrait Gallery<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/npg_2022_58-myrnaloy-610x800.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with dark, wavy hair poses in a floral dress, leaning against a chair in a high-contrast, black-and-white portrait.\" width=\"610\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881019\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Myrna Loy, George Hurrell, gelatin silver print, c. 1935 | National Portrait Gallery<\/p>\n<p>Running through January 10, 2027, the exhibition\u2019s new selection is drawn from the Portrait Gallery\u2019s collection of 70 photographs by Hurrell, whose portraits played a major role in shaping the visual image of Hollywood glamor during the studio era.<\/p>\n<p>Hurrell was Hollywood\u2019s leading portrait photographer of the 1930s and early 1940s. His portraits were widely distributed to theaters, fan magazines and the public, helping shape the image of Hollywood stars as idealized figures who appeared almost larger than life.<\/p>\n<p>With an eye for artful posing, innovative lighting effects and careful retouching, Hurrell produced portraits that enhanced the public image of many of the \u201cGolden Age\u2019s\u201d greatest stars. The National Portrait Gallery\u2019s exhibition includes photographs of Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Dorothy Lamour and Barbara Stanwyck.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/npg_2022_41-marlenedietrich-631x800.jpg\" alt=\"A black-and-white portrait of Marlene Dietrich wearing a collared shirt and sweater, holding a cigarette in her right hand.\" width=\"631\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-879993\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Marlene Dietrich, George Hurrell, gelatin silver print, c. 1935 | National Portrait Gallery<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/npg_2022_75-barbarastanwyck-1-644x800.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with wavy brown hair, wearing a white collared shirt, a dark neckerchief, and light-colored trousers, reclines on a fur-covered surface while holding a white fedora.\" width=\"644\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-879995\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Barbara Stanwyck, George Hurrell, gelatin silver print, c. 1935 | National Portrait Gallery<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were truly glamorous people,\u201d Hurrell recalled, \u201cand that was the image I wanted to portray.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hurrell was born in Covington, Kentucky, in 1904 and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. He initially studied painting at the Art Institute of Chicago and began using photography to document his paintings before making photography his primary focus while living at a California artists\u2019 colony in the 1920s.<\/p>\n<p>His Hollywood career began after he joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer\u2019s (MGM) publicity department at age 25. He quickly became the studio\u2019s principal portrait photographer, photographing stars for publicity surrounding new films and becoming highly sought after by Hollywood studios and actors.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/npg_2022_54-jeanharlow-625x800.jpg\" alt=\"A blonde woman in a light-colored, pleated gown smiles while resting her arms on the head of a taxidermied polar bear rug.\" width=\"625\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-880001\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Jean Harlow, George Hurrell, gelatin silver print, 1934 | National Portrait Gallery<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/npg_2022_66-marypickford-charlesrogers-1-632x800.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a dark suit and tie sits beside a woman in a light-colored, short-sleeved gown and pearl necklace.\" width=\"632\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-879994\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Mary Pickford and Charles \u201cBuddy\u201d Rogers, George Hurrell, gelatin silver print, 1937 | National Portrait Gallery<\/p>\n<p>In 1933, Hurrell left MGM and opened a photography studio on Sunset Boulevard. He produced some of his most iconic portraits of MGM stars there, along with memorable images of leading actors from other major studios.After closing his Sunset studio in 1938, Hurrell worked briefly for Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures before serving with a military film production unit during World War II.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The Glamor was Gone\u2019<\/p>\n<p>After the war, the studio portrait style that had defined Hurrell\u2019s career fell out of favor. Candid photography made with portable, small-format cameras became increasingly popular, replacing the meticulously crafted, large-format studio portraits that had epitomized his work. For Hurrell, Hollywood\u2019s \u201cGolden Age\u201d had come to an end.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we stopped using those 8 x 10 cameras,\u201d he declared, \u201cthe glamor was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/npg_2022_49-douglasfairbanksjr-635x800.jpg\" alt=\"A man with a thin mustache wears a dark, fur-collared military-style coat and a peaked cap with a circular emblem.\" width=\"635\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881027\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Douglas Fairbanks Jr., George Hurrell, gelatin silver print, c. 1935 | National Portrait Gallery<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/npg_2022_52-gretagarbo-645x800.jpg\" alt=\"A black-and-white portrait of Greta Garbo wearing a dark coat with a white fur collar and a feathered hat, holding the collar up to her chin.\" width=\"645\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881022\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Greta Garbo, George Hurrell, gelatin silver print, 1930 | National Portrait Gallery<\/p>\n<p>Hurrell returned to Hollywood in the mid-1950s and continued working as a still photographer on film sets. His work experienced renewed interest in the 1980s as glamor photography regained popularity. Among his later clients was Sharon Stone, who was then a relatively unknown actress.<\/p>\n<p>Hurrell died in Los Angeles in 1992 at age 87. His photographs are held in the collections of institutions including the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/npg.si.edu\/exhibition\/star-power-sequel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood\u2019s Golden Age by George Hurrell<\/a> is on view at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., through January 10, 2027.<\/p>\n<p> Affiliate Disclosure PetaPixel articles may include affiliate links; we may earn a commission if you buy through one. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marlene Dietrich, George Hurrell, gelatin silver print, c. 1935 National Portrait Gallery An exhibition celebrates the work of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-620408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}