Francesco Vezzoli. Photo by Matthew Rolston for Italian Vanity Fair.
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Matthew Rolston moves nimbly among many worlds: celebrity photography, fine art, creative direction, and brand creation. And his latest portrait commission brought two of those worlds together, with stunning results.
For a recent exposé on the life and times of celebrated artist Francesco Vezzoli, commissioned by Italian Vanity Fair, Rolston drew on Vezzoli’s art itself and its extravagant connections to Hollywood, both old and new. Rolston, long a devotee of vintage Hollywood glamor, took inspiration from the portraiture of the so-called Golden Age, such as the works of legendary photographer George Hurrell.
“It was great fun getting him dressed up like an old Hollywood icon,” Rolston told Women’s Wear Daily. “The image ended up looking like a cross between Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Melvyn Douglas, and Mr. Peanut. We even gave him a false pencil mustache. It’s all meant to be a tongue-in-cheek commentary on Francesco’s fascination with LA’s ‘dream factory.’”
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