MAX YAVNO (1911-1985), “Leg, Olympic Boulevard, Hollywood”

1949, printed later (1970)

Photograph, silver gelatin, pencil signed lower right

The photographer who produced some of the most iconic images of Los Angeles has been described as, among other things, an oddball, a recluse and a perfectionist. Max Yavno became an artist whose work is synonymous with Los Angeles, according to Huntington Museum photo curator Jennifer Watts.  His black-and-white photographs stand out as some of the best visual records of the urban landscape of post-World War II Los Angeles. A documentarian at heart, Yavno took his camera to a variety of Los Angeles locales. He photographed complex scenes like “Muscle Beach, 1949”, vernacular architecture in “Hot Dog, 1949,” and one of his most famous images, “The Leg, 1949″ also called “Silk Stocking.” His fascination with street life in immigrant communities, and storefronts derived from graphic qualities that appealed to his highly ordered sense of design. His work is representative of the old school craftsman approach to photography, the direct lineage to Edward Weston.”