Iconic fashion, celebrity and still photographer Irving Penn has died. He was 92 years old.

An assistant to Penn said he died at his home Wednesday in New York. No cause was given.

Known for his graceful, minimalistic portraits, Penn became known as one of the first artists to straddle the line dividing commercial and art photography.

He began his career in the 1940s at Vogue fashion magazine, quickly abandoning his dream of becoming a painter. His preference for shooting his subjects isolated against stark backgrounds soon became legendary.

Visitor looks at Irving Penn's "Picasso" during preview of 20th Century photographs at Christie's auction house in New York, October 2005Penn took a number of iconic portraits of famous people, including painter Pablo Picasso, writer Truman Capote, and Penn's own wife, model Lisa Fonssagrives, who died in 1992.

Later in his career, Penn moved to doing still-lifes and portraits, capturing subjects as varied as cigarette butts to ordinary tradespeople.

A number of his works are on display in museums in the United States.