Avedon’s trajectory bears a notable resemblance to that of the writer he claimed as a defining influence: Marcel Proust, an interloper among swans who in mining their world for poetry produced a work of profound insight and enduring beauty. Although not drawn by Gefter, a former New York Times journalist and the author of several volumes on photography, this analogy squares with his stated “belief in Avedon as one of the most consequential artists of the 20th century.' Accordingly, his aim in What Becomes a Legend Most is 'to make a case for Avedon’s place of achievement alongside his peers in the pantheon of 20th-century arts and letters.' ... Read in the context of our own precarious political and ecological moment, this assessment alone argues eloquently for the abiding, even urgent relevance of Avedon’s imperfect Art.
Incontrovertibly Philip Gefter did his homework when it came to writing about the lives, both professional and personal, of Richard Avedon. Gefter goes into overdrive to the point of minutiae overload ... Upon reading What Becomes a Legend Most, this reader was most conflicted by whether or not he was really reading a biography of a great lensman or a psychological study and assessment of what made Avedon tick and what his mental conflicts were ... The absolute glut of details might be more harmful than beneficial when it comes to enjoying this book. Gefter’s accounting of Avedon can certainly not be discounted as authoritative, but it might be possible to think to what end it was necessary to expose Avedon in such a way? Did it diminish his talents or possibly enhance them as an artist?
... wise and ebullient ... Gefter takes the reader inside so many of Avedon’s photo shoots, and so deftly explicates his work, that you’re thirsty to sate your eyes with Avedon’s actual images ... One of the achievements of Gefter’s biography is to argue persuasively for Avedon’s place, as a maker of portraits, as one of the 20th century’s most consequential artists ... Gefter selects the right photo sessions to linger over ... Gefter’s prose is unshowy but supple.
... takes Avedon at his own estimation as a serious 20th-century artist. It creates a dense, convincing portrait of a man with huge talent and a gift for life ... A lot of Mr. Gefter’s book is given over to documenting Avedon’s relentless careerism ... The wary mutual respect between Avedon and Diane Arbus provides a fascinating counterpoint to the showbiz hurly-burly of Avedon’s life and also offers a paradigmatic lesson in the way specific, pointed images filter through different media and become fixed points in public consciousness ... Mr. Gefter has done his research, perhaps too much so—the book is clearly comprehensive and written with passion and intelligence, but Avedon’s basic style (white background, finely graded black and white, overwhelmingly large prints) and preoccupations were all in place very early. He didn’t evolve so much as alter his level of intensity depending on the job, so the book has occasional slow spots.
Gefter’s expert, comprehensive, and sensitive biography embodies the electricity and complexity of Avedon’s work as he centers Avedon within the crossfire of both the battle to legitimize photography as a fine art form and the struggle for gay rights. Gefter’s engrossing portrait of a master portraitist vividly proves his claim that Avedon is “one of the most consequential artists of the twentieth century.”
... illuminating ... a sympathetic yet clear-eyed portrayal of the photographer’s life and career ... Gefter details his subject’s milieu vividly, a circle encompassing a generation of cultural icons ... Readers will relish the insider accounts of how famous images came to be made ... Avedon’s development as an artist is described alongside juicy bits of his social and professional relationships, all supported by meticulous research from interviews, archives, and published resources ... The perceptive author lays out these many contradictions in Avedon’s life, including mixed critical reviews that evidence a continual tension between commercial photography and fine art, contributing to Avedon’s own insecurity about his place in the art world ... With this engrossing biography, readers will come away with a greater appreciation of Avedon’s artistic strengths and achievements, as well as the complex man behind the camera.
A welcome life of the noted photographer Richard Avedon (1923-2004), locating him in a broad cultural and artistic context ... Gefter sets Avedon among a hyperactive cultural milieu: As someone who started off with the intention of becoming a poet, he was well at home in the midcentury literary and cultural world of Manhattan ... Most important, though, Avedon was a brilliant if sometimes controversial artist, and Gefter does much to prove his essential role in raising photographic portraiture to a lofty level. Revealing, fluent, and very well written—an exemplary biography of an underappreciated artist.
... dense ... Chapters on Avedon’s scrappy Manhattan upbringing reveal fascinating connections to other artists such as Truman Capote and James Baldwin, though the narrative gets off to a bit of a slow start; discussions of his photography don’t arrive until almost 80 pages in ... Stories behind famous shots of the Beatles and Andy Warhol reveal just as much about the subjects as Avedon himself ... Gefter does a remarkable job of situating Avedon within the broader art scene, though the level of detail he goes into may overwhelm readers with a more casual interest in the subject. Nonetheless, this work serves as a definitive and insightful look into one of the titans of 20th century photography.
