Joan Crawford

George Hurrell
Joan Crawford
Gelatin silver print, 1932, printed 1979-80
Portfolio I, edition 47 of 250
20 x 16 1/8 inches
Gift of Susan Rathbone
1980.120.003
© HurrellPhotos.com

In the film Letty Lynton, Crawford plays a murderess who poisons her lover after she falls for another man played by Robert Montgomery. Hurrell’s striking portrait of the actress dressed in a black fur coat and cloche hat reveals the evil beneath her beauty. Hurrell photographed Crawford more than any other actress. He would often photograph her without makeup, working on the negatives by hand to reveal luminous skin tones and sparking eyes. He said that her face “was the closest to perfection, like Garbo. Perfect proportions except for a heavy jaw, and her eyes were a little big.”