Titled “Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection,” this unprecedented exhibition, in partnership with Gucci, will take place from May 18, 2024, to January 5, 2025, at the Sainsbury Gallery, V&A South Kensington.
The Simon Sainsbury Gallery at the V&A Museum (Victoria & Albert, London) is affectionately known as the “Daylit Gallery” due to the generous amount of natural light it receives through its translucent, undulating roof. Originally an exterior void between buildings that provided daylight and service area but lacked means to display pieces, it has been reconfigured into a gallery space, hosting the much-anticipated exhibition “Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection.”
Elton John, a well-known photography collector—his second passion after music—owns a collection of seven thousand images, alongside his husband, David Furnish, which features many of the great photographers, events, and celebrities of the 20th century. The exhibition that the V&A gallery will unveil to the world this spring in London gathers a selection of over 300 photographs, from at least 140 photographers, making it the largest exhibition of its kind that the museum has organized to date.
Fragile Beauty encompasses a photographic record from the 1950s to the present day and includes portraits of jazz musicians Miles Davis and Chet Baker, as well as actress Marilyn Monroe, along with historical moments, from the civil rights movement to AIDS activism. The initiative’s curators have created eight thematic sections covering fashion, celebrities, the male body, and American photography.
“Since we first loaned a selection of Horst’s photographs to the V&A in 2014, our relationship with the museum has grown significantly,” Sir Elton and Furnish told a press outlet. “Fragile Beauty takes our collaboration to new heights, presenting some of the most esteemed photographers and iconic images from our collection. We are thrilled to be able to share this exhibition with the public.”
The exhibition is curated by Duncan Forbes, V&A’s Director of Photography, as well as Newell Harbin, Director of The Sir Elton John Photography Collection, and Lydia Caston, V&A’s exhibition project curator.
“It is a great pleasure to work with Sir Elton John and David Furnish to present the highlights of their collection: from the playful and surprising to the contemplative and thoughtful,” Forbes added.
The unparalleled selection of the world’s leading photographers tells the story of modern and contemporary photography, to be discovered in London starting May 18.
