SAN FRANCISCO — Irving Penn is widely regarded as one of the 20th century’s greatest photographers, renowned for his pared-down aesthetic, exemplary printmaking and artistic experimentation. A regular contributor to Vogue magazine for more than six decades, he revolutionized fashion photography in the post-war period, positioning models against neutral backdrops to emphasize gesture and expression. Although best known for his psychologically penetrating portraits, Penn was a prolific artist whose career spanned 70 years and a wide array of interests.

The major retrospective Irving Penn, now in display at the de Young museum, captures every period of that dynamic career behind the camera, beginning in the late 1930s and continuing into the first decade of the 21st century.