Francesco Clemente’s studio.
Photo: Courtesy of Saint Laurent
1. Francesco Clemente Paints Saint Laurent Muses
Throughout his five-decade career, Francesco Clemente has often wielded portraiture as an evocative vessel for capturing the nuances of identity in vital figures like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Toni Morrison, and Jasper Johns. The peripatetic Italian painter recently added even more high-profile names to that impressive list thanks to a collaboration with Saint Laurent, whose artistic director, Anthony Vaccarello, enlisted him to create a series of portraits of house muses Zoë Kravitz, Isabella Ferrari, Penelope Ternes, and Ajus Samuel for the label’s Summer 2025 campaign. Through expressive brushstrokes, Clemente transformed each subject into a symbolic figure, each exuding a quiet strength and an intimate command of their femininity. That approach drew Vacarello, who recognized Clemente’s deeply expressive approach and layered use of color as harmonizing with the collection’s spirit. “I first discovered Clemente’s work in the 1990s,” Vacarello recalls. “I could perfectly imagine my collection being portrayed by his poetic use of colors.”