FRANK HORVAT
“Too closely tied to the fashion world for his fellow photojournalists, yet too iconoclastic for the fashion world itself, he has charted his own course since the 1960s, keeping his distance from the most prominent circles—just like William Klein.”
Quentin Bajac – Director Jeu de Paume, Paris
Born in Abbazia in 1928, at the time part of Italy, he began to devote himself to photography after studying in Milan and moving to Paris in the 1950s. It was the French capital—the city where he lived and worked for most of his career—to which Horvat tied his artistic journey.
A tireless innovator, Horvat explored different genres and styles, from photojournalism to fashion photography, revolutionizing the portrayal of women and the very way of capturing reality through the lens. His collaborations with leading international magazines—including “Vogue,” “Elle,” and “Harper’s Bazaar”—are legendary; in these publications, he introduced a spontaneous, narrative style that broke away from the rigidity of traditional fashion photography.
Frank Horvat will be the focus of a major retrospective organized in collaboration with the Studio Frank Horvat in Paris at our Brescia location in October 2026.
1955, London, UK, Lambeth, boxing boys silver print, cm 20 x 30
© Frank Horvat Studio
1974, Paris, France, for STERN, shoes and Eiffel Tower silver print, cm 50 x 74
© Frank Horvat Studio
1956, Paris, France, little girl on a bench silver print, cm 20 x 30
© Frank Horvat Studio
1955, London, UK, Tower Bridge seen from London Bridge, silver print, cm 25 x 36
© Frank Horvat Studio
1961, Paris, France, for British Vogue, wedding gown, on bus silver print, cm 35 x 25
© Frank Horvat Studio
1955, Paris, France, Quai du Louvre, couple silver print, cm 36 x 25,5
© Frank Horvat Studio
