Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1930 to immigrant Norwegian parents Asta and Eigil Klem, Ann Klem was a successful fashion model with a career that spanned twenty years and included covers for Vogue, Mademoiselle, Seventeen, Glamour, Redbook and Ladies’ Home Journal.
Ann Klem in the 1950s
Ann worked with photographers Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Mark Shaw, Herman Landshoff, Lillian Bassman and Allan Arbus, among others. She divided her time between New York City and the Adirondacks. She deeply appreciated the art and cultural offerings of the bustling city as well as the quiet beauty of nature at the family’s rustic cabin on Lake Champlain.
Ann was also an avid reader, talented painter, wonderful cook, inspired gardener and loving mother and wife. She died in 2013 in New York. Take a look at these glamorous photos to see portraits of young Ann Klem as a model in the 1950s.
Ann Klem in a lovely wedding dress by Leslie Morris, photo by Lillian Bassman, Harper’s Bazaar, April 1952
Ann Klem in midnight black crêpe dress pleated flat and matching jacket by Minx Modes, star pin by Lido, photo by Lillian Bassman, Harper’s Bazaar, December 1952
Ann Klem in navy blue worsted coatdress crushed into a tiny waist by Goldberg-Weissman, hat by Madcaps, photo by Lillian Bassman, Harper’s Bazaar U.S., February 1952
Ann Klem in striped dress, photo by Dan Wynn, circa 1953
Ann Klem in fine worsted flannel suit by Nobility, Mademoiselle, February 1955
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