Helmut Newton's "Big Nudes" In MFAH Exclusive Exhibit

Art will meet fashion will meet provocation this summer when the Museum of Fine Arts Houston becomes the only U.S. venue to show “Helmut Newton: White Women • Sleepless Nights • Big Nudes,” which will display the entire contents of Newton’s first three books. The 205 large-scale prints, some of them life-sized at almost 8′ by 8′, are being produced specially for this exhibition.

“I always wanted to show the man behind the camera, and I believe this exhibition succeeds perfectly,” said show organizer Manfred Heiting, an Amsterdam-based collector and friend of the Newtons. That’s great news, because the man behind the camera lived an even more intriguing life than the tableaux he shot. A WWII survivor, gigolo, and ultimately a fashion photography trailblazer, he was, according to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, “synonymous with Vogue at its most glamorous and mythic.” Glamorous and mythic, indeed: Newton and his wife summered in Monte Carlo and wintered at the Chateau Marmont, for crying out loud.

And now a little slice of that glamour will be yours, Houston, to visit whenever you like. After the show’s July 3–September 25, 2011 run, the entire contents of the show will become part of the museum’s permanent collection.

See the next page for a few more (NSFW) shots.