Marisa Berenson: A Life In Pictures

Although she says that men fell in love with her in the 70s because they’d fallen in love with Lady Lyndon, the role that made her famous on the big screen, it’s really hard to believe her. Marisa Berenson, the granddaughter of the designer Elsa Schiapparelli, and great-grandniece of the Renaissance art explorer Bernard Berenson, is an it girl, a woman with a je ne sais quoi who charms, conquers and hypnotises anyone who meets her gaze. Her autobiography came out in 2010, and now we have a new book that perhaps traces Berenson’s life even more clearly: Marisa Berenson: A Life in Pictures brings together more than 300 shots featuring the model. It’s an exploration not only of her fantastic career, but also of the history of fashion, art and cinema. There are covers from Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Time and Newsweek, which have seen Berenson as a true star since 1970, shoots created by some of the greatest photographers (such as Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, David Bailey, Hiro, Helmut Newton, Henry Clarke, Norman Parkinson,Robert Mapplethorpe, Steven Meisel), unconventional outfits and more natural poses, shots grabbed backstage or taken at parties, photos with her sister Berry and, of course, images of her on films sets – masters of the cinema like Luchino Visconti and Stanley Kubrick all wanted her in front of their cameras. Published by Rizzoli New York, the photo book was guest-edited by Steven Meisel, and includes an introduction by Hamish Bowles and text by Diane von Furstenberg. It’s a real tour de force for a model, and a woman, who has always been much more than the melancholy Lady Lyndon. (Vogue.it) Such a fitting tribute to one of my favorite style icons!