George Hurrell
George Hurrell: Hollywood Glamor
Biography
George Edward Hurrell was born on June 1, 1904 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, Edward, was born there too, of English and Irish parents. His paternal grandfather had come from Essex, England where the family had been successful shoe manufacturers for several centuries. Hurrell’s mother, Anna Mary Eble was born in Germany, but had moved with her family to Cincinatti as a child.
Hurrell came from a large Catholic family and had four brothers and a sister. His youngest brother, Randy, studied to become a priest, but quit the seminary about one month before taking his vows. His sister, Elizabeth, went to a nunnery and almost took her vows but decided not to, eventually marrying and raising a family. An alter boy during his youth, upon reflecting on what his own career path might be, a young George Hurrell initially signed up at the Quigley Seminary in Chicago to become a priest, but decided to go to art school instead. He said, “As long as I can remember I wanted to be an artist. As a boy, I was drawing all the time, in school and out. Art was my favorite class in high school.” Following graduation from high school, that summer he enrolled at the Chicago Art Institute, and later took night school classes at the Academy of Fine Arts studying painting.
Hurrell became acquainted with the camera while in art school, because students typically photographed various indoor and outdoor scenes to use as reference while painting. Also, serious art students made sure they had a ready inventory of photographic images that they wanted to paint, so that they could use these as reference during the cold winter months when it snowed.
Then, one spring day in 1925, while still attending the Art Institute, Hurrell heard that famed landscape painter, Edgar Alwyn Payne, an alum of the Art Institute, would be giving a lecture at the school. Mr. Payne was passing through town on his way back home to his wife and family in Laguna Beach after having spent some time lecturing on the East Coast. Hurrell attended the lecture, and afterwards Payne viewed the student’s work. Payne was particularly impressed with Hurrells’ experimental painting style, and also liked a recently completed landscape painting. Payne told him, “If you plan to be a serious artist, you should come back with me to Laguna Beach and paint. This is where it is all happening.” Since Hurrell wanted to be a fine artist, he eagerly accepted the opportunity.
to read more visit: http://georgehurrell.com/george-hurrell/
check out more of Hurrell’s body of work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh1QodRl98U
Questions:
What do you think about this type of glamor shot?
What do you notice about the quality of light in Hurrell’s images?
In the future would you want to try and replicate this style of sculpting with light?
