George Hoyningen-Huene Catalogue

Chronology

1885

George Van Ness Lothrop, Huene's grandfather, is appointed Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of Alexander III by President Cleveland. He, wife Elmira, and their daughters move to St. Petersburg.

1897

The start of Marxist Social-Democratic Party in Russia.

1900

George Hoyningen-Huene is born in St. Petersburg, third child of Baron Barthold von Hoyningen-Huene and Anne (Van Ness Lothrop).

1903

Huene learns English.

Social Democrats split into Menshevik and Bolshevik parties in Russia.

1905

Family spends part of the winter at their estate Nawwast, Estonia.

1907

Spends summer in Bad Kreuznach, Germany and St. Moritz, Switzerland.

1909

First tutor.

1910

Begins schooling.

1911

Visits Berlin with Aunt Anna and is deeply impressed by classical sculpture.

1912

Spends winter in Reichenhall, Germany, and Cannes, France. Spends summer in Florence, Rome, and Sorrento, Italy. Visits Mount Vesuvius, near Naples, Italy.

1914

Learns French. Spends summer at Nawwest. Attends Imperical Lyceum in St. Petersburg.
Sisters become nurses. Mother and son move to Yalta, Ukraine.

1915

Summer at Blagoveshchenskoye, Ukraine. Visits father in Nawwast, which will later be occupied by the German army in 1917.

1917

Helen, one of Huene's sisters, moves to Yalta. Red Sailors search the house and place the family under temporary house arrest. Huene returns with his mother to St. Petersburg while Helen remains in Yalta.
Huene and mother travel to England, and he is begins attending preparatory school in Surrey.
Betty, Huene's other sister, moves tp France.

Strikes and riots in St. Petersburg lead to revolution; Tsar Nicholas II abdicates the throne; Great Civil War begins.

1918

Huene's father escapes from Estonia. Helen also joins the family now living in France.

End of WWI; but continuation of conflict between the Bolsheviks and anti-Bolshevik White army. British send Expeditionary Forces to help the White army.
Execution of the former Tsar and the rest of the Russian Imperial family.

1919

Huene leaves England for southern Russia as an interpreter with the British Expeditionary Force. Travels to Batum, Tsaritsyn, Ekaterinodar, and Taganrog.
The White Army advance on Petrograd, but are turned back by the Bolshevik forces.

1920

Huene begins new year in Novorossiisk, where he nearly dies after contracting typhus. Evacuated to London. Flies to Paris and travels to Cannes to meet his parents. Returns to Estonia briefly to see if anything can be salvaged from the estate. Returns to Paris.

The White Army is defeated by the Boshoviks.

1921

Huene works on a series of odd jobs, including one which takes him to Poland for a brief trip. Works as a film extra.

1923

Works for sister Betty at Yteb. Studies at open art studios, then takes lessons from André Lhote.

1924

Collaborates with Man Ray on a fashion photography portfolio, later sold to a New England department store.

1925

Huene's freelance drawings appear in Fairchild's Magazine and Harper's Bazaar. He signs contract with French Vogue as an illustrator and works as a photographic assistant to American photographer Arthur O'Neill.

1926

First fashion photographs for Vogue.

1927

First photographs for Vanity Fair. Also produces several amateur films.

1928

Huene's photographs are exhibited for the first time in the "Premier Salon Indépendant de la Photographie," Paris, France.

1929

Visits New York City and Hollywood, California for the first time. Exhibits in "Film und Foto," Stuttgart, Germany.
Designs a mannequin for French Vogue.

1930

Meets Horst P. Bohrmann (later Horst P. Horst). Together they visit Cecil Beaton in England.
Visits Hammamet in Tunisia, the site of his future vacation home.

1931

Visits Berlin on assignment.
Travels to London, New York, Chicago and Hollywood, as well as Hammamet again, where he decides to build a vacation home for himself and Horst.
Rents a studio of photographer Howard Coster in London.
Designs the lighting for "Bricktop," a new nightclub in Paris.

Horst begins career for Condé Nast.

1932

Hoyningen-Huene: Meisterbildnisse is published in Germany. While visiting Berlin on assignment, sees G.W. Pabst making L'Atlantide and decides to make his own version.
Hammamet vacation house is under construction.

1933

Makes a fashion documentary film for French Vogue around this time.

1934

Elsa Schiaparelli and Cecil Beaton visit Hammamet.
Huene commissions Bérard to paint Horst's portrait.
Vanity Fair sends Huene to Hollywood.

1935

Leaves Condé Nast due to a contract dispute and immediately starts working for Harper's Bazaar in Paris. Travels regularly to New York on assignment. From now on makes regular visits to Hammamet.
Meets George Cukor around this time.

1936

Huene isolates himself at Hammamet.
Photographs people and scenery, while on an African expedition with a group of amateur explorers later that year.
Meets André Gide.

1937

African Mirage, the Record of a Journey is published.

1938

Spends more time in New York, and undertakes a considerable amount of advertising work.
Visits Greece for the first time, as well as Southeast Asia and Australia.

1939

Second trip to Greece.
Remains at Harper's Bazaar in New York during the WWII as he is beyond the age for military service.

1940

Active in Greek war relief. Photographs published in US Carmera and Coronet.

1942

Works on the book Hellas and exhibition to benefit the Greek War Relief Committee.
Photographs published in Popular Photography magazine.

1946-1947

Settles briefly in Mexico, after leaving Harper's Bazaar and New York. Mexican Heritage and Baalbek/Palmyra are published.
Becomes a naturalized American citizen.

1946-1950

Makes three documentary films in Spain, including The Garden of Hieronymus Bosch.

1947

Leaves Mexico for Southern California with the encouragement of George Cukor. Starts teaching at the Art Center School of Los Angeles.

1950

Works briefly for Flair magazine. Exhibits at the USA Mission to Greece. Visits Egypt.
Published in US Camera.

1951

Films Daphni: The Virgin of the Golden Laurels in Greece.

1954

Starts working as a film color coordinator, initially with George Cukor's A Star is Born.

1955

Takes mescalin in a controlled experiment for Aldous Huxley.

1963

Receives Photokina Photographic Award, Cologne, Germany.

1965

Participates in group exhibition "Glamour Portraits" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Conceives of a television project on the French Revolution and the life of Napoleon I.

1967

Participates in "Oral History" project organized by the University of California, Los Angeles. Starts working on his memoirs with Dr. Oreste Pucciani.

1968

Dies from a stroke at his Los Angeles home.

1970

Exhibition and catalogue produced by The Friends of the Libraries of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, on the occasion of a bequest of Huene's rare books.
Tributes by Katherine Hepburn, George Cukor, Horst, Leo Lerman, Mainbocher, and others.

1971

Huene's photographs are included in Horst's Salute to the Thirties, with foreword by Janet Flanner.

1980

Retrospective exhibition and catalog, "Eye for Elegance: The Photography of George Hoyningen-Huene" produced by the International Center of Photography, New York. The exhibition travels to London, Paris, Minneapolis, and Long Beach, California.

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