Helmut Newton, the artist inspired by Monaco

A leading photographer of the 20th century, Helmut Newton lived and worked in Monaco. The exhibition “Newton, Riviera”, which runs until 13 November 2022, looks back at his ties to the Côte d’Azur and the Principality.

“I love the sunshine. We don’t see it in Paris any more.” These were, allegedly, the words spoken by Helmut Newton to the Monegasque official in charge of processing his papers, when the photographer moved to Monaco. The German-born Newton, widely considered to be among the greatest fashion photographers of his generation, lived in the Principality from 1981 until his death in 2004 at the age of 83.

It was in the Principality that he produced a great many portraits of “beautiful people”, some of whom had taken up residence in Monaco, others merely passing through. He also took portraits of the Princely Family and the dancers of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo, the heirs to the famous Russian ballets of Diaghilev that revolutionised classical dance in the early 20th century.

Newton also tried his hand at landscape photography and created more “personal” images with surrealist themes, like the mirror, the eye and voyeurism, the doll and the mannequin, sadomasochism, or the night. Of his personal series, “Yellow Press” evokes crime scenes with a disconcerting touch of glamour about them…

The exhibition “Newton Riviera”, hosted at the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco (NMNM) in collaboration with the Helmut Newton Foundation, from 17 June to 13 November, looks back at the photographer’s enchanting and eccentric creations. It focuses on Newton’s relationship with the Riviera, from the Côte-d’Azur to Bordighera, in Italy, through a collection of 280 photographs selected by curators Guillaume de Sardes and Matthias Harder.