Tony Vaccaro: The Centennial Exhibit

Acclaimed Photographer Celebrates 100th Birthday with Two New Exhibitions

2022-11-25 - 2023-01-29

Two new exhibitions celebrate the 100th birthday of acclaimed photographer Tony Vaccaro in New York City and Santa Fe. A pop-up show in New York City presented by Monroe Gallery of Photography will be on view at 21 Spring Street from December 13 through 18, 2022. A second show will be held at Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe from November 25, 2022, through January 29, 2023. 

Tony Vaccaro passed away peacefully on December 28, eight days after celebrating his 100th birthday. In late November, Tony had entered NY Harbor Veteran’s Hospital for emergency surgery for complications from an ulcer. He recovered and attended the pop-up Tony Vaccaro Centennial Exhibition of his photographs in New York City. The City of New York officially proclaimed December 20, 2022 “Tony Vaccaro Day”, and Vaccaro was feted by friends at a surprise birthday party at his favorite local Italian restaurant that evening.

The New York Times obituary.

Vaccaro is known for his photographs of WWII, which were the subject of a 2016 HBO documentary, and his editorial work for Life, Look, Newsweek, Vanity Fair and countless other publications. The exhibitions coincide with Tony Vaccaro 100!  on view at the Museum für Photographie in Braunschweig, Germany. In both locations, Tony Vaccaro: The Centennial Exhibition, will juxtapose the living legend’s powerful war images with the lyrical mid-century fashion, film, and pop culture photographs that came later. From the battlefields of Europe to the rooftops of Manhattan, Vaccaro trained his inimitable lens with a sensitivity derived from early hardship as an orphan in Italy. After the war, he replaced the searing images of horror embedded in his memory, by focusing on the splendor of life and capturing the beauty of fashion and those who gave of themselves: artists, writers, movie stars, and cultural figures. The exhibitions illustrate Vaccaro’s will to live against all odds and to advance the power of beauty. 

“We call each other German, French, Italian. There is no Italian blood. There is no French blood. It's human blood. On this Earth there is one humanity. Let's do something about it. Let's live! In a way, photography was my way of telling the world, “We have better things to do than to kill ourselves.” –Tony Vaccaro

Running Soldier, Battle of the Bulge, 1944<br/>
Defeated Soldier, Frankfurt, Germany, 1947<br/>
Firing Line, Battle of Hurtgen Forest, Germany, 1944<br/>
White Death, Pvt. Henry Irving Tannebaum Ottre, Belgium 1945<br/>
Hitler's Window, Germany, 1945<br/>
One of the original prints near the Rhine River<br/>
one step closer to Victory, near Hamm<br/>
An American GI waving from a downed German Focke0Wulf fighter plane, Pocking, Bavaria, Germany, July, 1945<br/>Please contact Gallery for price
Newly liberated women in Nante, along the North bank of the Loire River, celebrate their freedom, Nante, France, July, 1944<br/>
Waiting For Mom. Two children wait outside a grocery store with the family shopping cart, Hoescht, Germany, 1946. <br/>
The Paradise Cortina, Italy, 1947<br/>
The Violinist, Venice, Italy, 1947<br/>
Reconstruction, Nuremberg, Germany, 1948<br/>
Pennsylvania Station, New York, 1948<br/>
Umbrella LOOK magazine, NYC 1951<br/>
Going for a walk, New York, 1950<br/>
Napping with art, New York, c.1960s<br/>Please contact Gallery for price
After Degas: Woman and Flowers, New York City 1960<br/>
The Fashion Train, NYC 1960<br/>Please contact Gallery for price
Eartha Kitt and Givenchy, Paris, France 1961<br/>
Givenchy by the Pool, South of Paris, France, 1961<br/>
The Pink Balcony, Puerto Rico, 1951<br/>
Givenchy with Audrey Hepburn's Mannequins, Paris 1960<br/>
Enzo Ferrari. Modena, Italy 1955<br/>
Gwen Verdon, New York City, NY, 1953<br/>
Peggy Guggenheim, Venice, Italy, 1968<br/>
Guggenheim Hat, New York, 1960<br/>
Fashion at the pier, c. 1950<br/>Please contact Gallery for price
Under Marimekko Umbrella, Finland, 1965<br/>Please contact Gallery for price
Fun in Finland, 1965<br/>Please contact Gallery for price
Georgia O'Keeffe, Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, 1960<br/>
Georgia O'Keeffe, Santa Fe, LOOK, 1960<br/>
Georgia O'Keeffe and skull, Abiquiu, New Mexico, 1960<br/>
Willem Dekooning Sitting, East Hampton 1953<br/>
Pablo Picasso, Mougins, France, 1966<br/>
Fellini on the set of "La Dolce Vita", Italy 1969<br/>
Extra on the set of "8 1/2", Lazio, Italy, 1962<br/>
Sophia Loren, New York,1959<br/>
Ali MacGraw, LOOK, NYC 1971<br/>
Leonard Cohen, Nashville, 1968<br/>
John F Kennedy, Washington, DC, 1960<br/>
Givenchy, Paris, France, 1961<br/>
Minoru Yamasaki, World Trade Center Architect, 1969<br/>Please contact Gallery for price
Twin Towers in sunset, New York,1979<br/>Please contact Gallery for price
Tony Vaccaro with test strip, New York, 1968<br/>Please contact Gallery for price