“Wiseandebullient.“-DwightGarner,TheNewYorkTimesNowinpaperback,thefirstdefinitivebiographyofRichardAvedon,amonumentalphotographerofthetwentiethcentury,fromaward-winningphotographycriticPhilipGefter.Inhisacclaimedportraits,RichardAvedoncapturedtheiconicfiguresofthetwentiethcenturyinhisstarklybold,intimatelyminimal,andforensicvisualstyle.Concurrently,hisworkforHarper’sBazaarandVoguetransformedtheidealsofwomen’sfashion,femininity,andculturetobecomethedefininglookofanera.Yetdespitehisdrivingambitiontogainrespectintheartworld,duringhislifetimehewascondescendinglydismissedasa“celebrityphotographer.“WhatBecomesaLegendMostisthefirstdefinitivebiographyofthisluminary--anintenselydrivenmanwhoenduredpersonalandprofessionalprejudice,struggledwithdeepinsecurities,andmountedanexistentiallifelongbattletoberecognizedasanartist.PhilipGefterbuildsonarchivalresearchandexclusiveinterviewswiththoseclosesttoAvedontochroniclehisstory,beginningwithAvedon’scoming-of-ageinNewYorkbetweentheworldwars,whenculturalprejudicesforcedhimtomakedecisionsthatshapedthecourseofhislife.Compoundinghisprivatebattles,Avedonfoughttobetakenseriouslyinamediumthatitselfstruggledtoberespectedwithintheartworld.Gefterrevealshowthe1950sand1960sinformedAvedon’slifeandworkasmuchasheinformedtheperiod.Hecountedasclosefriendsaprofoundlyinfluentialgroupofartists--LeonardBernstein,TrumanCapote,JamesBaldwin,HaroldBrodkey,RenataAdler,SidneyLumet,andMikeNichols--whoshapedtheculturallifeoftheAmericantwentiethcentury.Itwasn’tuntilAvedon’sfashionworkwasexhibitedattheMetropolitanMuseumofArtinthelate1970sthathebecameahouseholdname.Balancingglamourwiththegravitasofanartist’sgenuinereachforworldyachievement--andnotalittlegossip--plussixteenpagesofphotographs,WhatBecomesaLegendMostisanintimatewindowintoAvedon’sfascinatingworld.Dramatic,visionary,andremarkable,itpaystributetoAvedon’sroleinthehistoryofphotographyandfashion--andhislegacyasoneofthemostconsequentialartistsofhistime.
