A series of photographs created by Irving Penn while travelling in Cuzco, Peru, has been acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum, boosting its already strong holdings of the celebrated photographer. “When coupled with Penn’s Small Trades series, a set of 252 gelatin-silver and platinum-palladium prints acquired in 2008 and exhibited in 2009, the Cuzco series makes the Getty a key resource for the study and display of Penn’s work, while also building upon the Museum’s efforts to expand the representation of communities in our collection,” says the museum’s director, Timothy Potts. The collection of 189 prints was donated by the Irving Penn Foundation, along with a maquette for a book titled Christmas in Cuzco.
J. Paul Getty Museum acquires trove of Irving Penn photographs
The famed photographer created the 189 works while travelling in Peru
27 February 2026
Irving Penn’s Cuzco Man, Woman, and Crying Infant, negative 1948; print 1989 J. Paul Getty Museum, gift of the Irving Penn Foundation, made possible by an anonymous donor. © The Irving Penn Foundation
