Ormond GigliGirls in the Windows, New York1960
1960
About the Item
- Creator:Ormond Gigli (1925, American)
- Creation Year:1960
- Dimensions:Height: 9 in (22.86 cm)Width: 9 in (22.86 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2912923442
Ormond Gigli
Ormond Gigli (1925–2019) was a highly regarded American photojournalist, best known for his breathtaking portraiture and surreal fashion photography. With a career spanning over four decades, Gigli's visual narratives appeared in prominent international publications such as TIME, LIFE, Paris Match, and Colliers.
Gigli began his journey in the 1950s, gaining recognition for his captivating photographs of theater, film, and dance. His subjects were a medley of cultural icons — Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Anita Ekberg, Marcel Duchamp, Willem de Kooning, John F. Kennedy, Halston, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Liza Minelli, Laurence Olivier, Alan Bates, Richard Burton, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and many more.
Gigli’s approach to portraiture was as much about his technical prowess and compositional elegance as it was about his ability to elicit his subject's spirit and character, a skill that would mark him as one of the luminaries of his time, akin to contemporaries such as Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, and Diane Arbus.
Yet, the pièce de résistance of Gigli's illustrious career is the iconic photograph known as Girls in the Windows, taken in 1960. This masterwork exemplifies Gigli's innovative vision and ability to transform the everyday into a tableau vivant of unparalleled aesthetic appeal. The image depicts 43 women poised in the windows of a New York City brownstone, exuding an ephemeral vibrancy that captures the essence of 1960s fashion and art photography.
Born in New York City in 1925, Gigli's passion for photography blossomed when he received his first camera from his father. After graduating from the School of Modern Photography in 1942, he served as a Navy photographer during World War II. Post-war, Gigli lived the bohemian life in Paris, before returning to New York where his career took off in 1952 after a series of celebrity portraits for LIFE magazine.
Gigli's modus operandi for Girls in the Windows was to immortalize the beauty of the soon-to-be-demolished buildings opposite his East 58th Street studio. Within the constraints of a two-hour window, Gigli meticulously arranged models, some of whom volunteered from an agency, some friends, and others being his wife and the demolition supervisor's wife. The final result was a symphony of color, form, and life, beautifully encapsulated within the frames of the brownstone windows.
Gigli recalled in an interview with TIME magazine: "What had seemed to some as too dangerous or difficult to accomplish, became my fantasy fulfilled, and my most memorable self-assigned photograph. It has been an international award winner ever since. Most professional photographers dream of having one signature picture they are known for. Girls in the Windows is mine."
Today, Girls in the Windows stands as a testament to Gigli's creativity and daring. As vibrant and evocative as it was in 1960, the photograph continues to resonate, its allure undiminished by the passage of time. Much like the timeless works of his contemporaries, Gigli's photograph is an ode to the beauty of everyday life, captured in a moment of extraordinary serendipity.
Shop authentic Ormond Gigli photography and prints on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by International Fine Arts Consortium — IFAC Arts)
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Heidi, Kitzbuhel, 2003By Ellen von UnwerthLocated in New York, NYSigned by the photographerCategory
Early 2000s Color Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper
- David Bowie and Kate Moss, New York, 2003By Ellen von UnwerthLocated in New York, NYSigned by the photographerCategory
Early 2000s Color Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper
- Fallen Party Angel, Paris, 2012By Ellen von UnwerthLocated in New York, NYSigned by the photographerCategory
2010s Color Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper
- Joy, New York, 2012By Ellen von UnwerthLocated in New York, NYSigned by the photographerCategory
2010s Color Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper
- POP Princess, London, 2012By Ellen von UnwerthLocated in New York, NYSigned by the photographerCategory
2010s Color Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper
- Emma de Caunes, French Playboy, 2009By Ellen von UnwerthLocated in New York, NYSigned by the photographerCategory
Early 2000s Color Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper
- North Shore Motel Steps, Salton Sea, California - Architectural color photoBy Richard HeepsLocated in Cambridge, GBNorth Shore Motel Steps, mid-century architecture photography captured by Richard Heeps as part of his Salton Sea series. This artwork is a limited edition of 25 gloss photographic ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper, C Print, Color, Silver Gelatin
- Barber Shop ReflectionBy Jack RobinsonLocated in Memphis, TNA man checks himself out in the reflection of a barber shop window in New York in the mid 1960s. Silver gelatin print on Ilford Galerie Baryta paper Edit...Category
1960s Color Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Film, Photographic Paper
- She Disappeared into Complete Silence (AD7258) - abstract figurative photographBy Mona KuhnLocated in San Francisco, CAIn the series 'She Disappeared into Complete Silence' (2014) Mona Kuhn takes a new direction into abstraction. She turns to a highly austere and restrained reductionist geometry and ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
- Lounging in Verbier by Slim AaronsBy Slim AaronsLocated in Brighton, GBFor a limited time only these Slim Aarons prints are available to purchase at 15% discount. Please contact the gallery for any queries. Please bear in mind that all prints are produ...Category
20th Century American Realist Landscape Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper, Color, C Print
- Persephone I - still life of a timeless environmental interior vignetteBy Erik PawassarLocated in San Francisco, CAPersephone I by Erik Pawassar 24 x 19 inches (61 x 48cm) signed edition of 25 40 x 31 inches (102 x 79cm) signed edition of 25 62 x 48 inches (157 x 122cm) signed edition ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Ink, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Pigment
- 0°00 Longitude, 52°32N' Latitude, Hake's Drove - Landscape Color PhotographyBy Richard HeepsLocated in Cambridge, GBHake's Drove, British landscape photograph from Richard Heeps series, 36 Minutes in Cambridgeshire. Richard Heeps was awarded a Millennium Year of the Artist Arts Council Grant to make this work. This project was born from an idea to produce a set of photographs...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsPhotographic Paper, C Print, Color, Silver Gelatin
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Kali Is an Art World Sensation, 40 Years after She Hid Her Work Away
A newly discovered trove of her kaleidoscopic works reveals that the enigmatic artist captured the zeitgeist of 1960s Southern California.
Inside the Bubble of Melvin Sokolsky
In the early 1960s, the photographer captured elegant models soaring through the air and floating in bubbles over Paris and New York. Now, we reveal the secrets behind his magical compositions.