Irving Penn’s New Guinea Man with Painted-On Glasses

Duration : 5 minutes, 11 seconds

Irving Penn, New Guinea Man with Painted on Glasses, 1970, printed July 1979. Platinum-palladium print, 20 3/16 x 19 3/4 in. (51.3 x 50.1 cm.) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of The Irving Penn Foundation, 2020, 2020.314.9 © The Irving Penn Foundation

What does this warrior’s body decoration indicate?

Hear Dr. Michael Mel on Irving Penn’s New Guinea Man with Painted-On Glasses (1970).

About

Michael Mel is from the Mogei community in the Mt. Hagen area of Highlands in Papua New Guinea. A performance artist, lecturer, curator, and teacher, he is currently Director of the Melanesian Institute for Arts and Culture at the University of Papua New Guinea.

Irving Penn is on view at the de Young March 16 through July 21, 2024.

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