Arnold Newman
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Arnold Abner Newman
(born March 3, 1918, New York, N.Y., U.S.died June 6, 2006, New York) U.S. photographer. He studied art at the University of Miami, then worked in the photography studio of a Miami department store. In 1946 he opened his own studio in New York City, where he specialized in portraits of well-known people posed in settings associated with their work. His environmental portraiture greatly influenced 20th-century portrait photography. His best-known portraits include those of Max Ernst, Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keeffe, Igor Stravinsky, Pablo Picasso, and Jean Cocteau.
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Arnold (Abner) Newman
(b New York, 3 March 1918). American photographer. He studied art at the University of Miami Beach, FL, from 1936 until 1938. Afterwards he became an assistant to the portrait photographer Leon Perskie, who had studios in Pennsylvania and Maryland. In 1941 Newman moved to New York, and he opened his own portrait studio there in 1946. He developed the concept of 'environmental portraiture', in which the photograph is arranged so as to include a considered and sparse environment that still retains and reflects character. His portraits of artists in particular reveal the personality of the subject without having to concentrate on the face. Well-known examples are his portraits of Piet Mondrian in his studio (1942; see Artists: Portraits from Four Decades, fig. 1) and Igor Stravinksy at the piano (1946; see Booth, p. 176). Newman published his photographs in numerous magazines, including Harper's Bazaar, Time, Life, Look and Fortune. He taught at many universities and from 1965 acted as adviser for photography at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
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Oxford Companion to the Photograph:
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Arnold Newman
Newman, Arnold (b. 1918), American photographer. Born in New York, Newman spent most of his youth in Miami and other East Coast cities. He was drawn to painting, but his impecunious family was unable to send him north to the Art Students' League where he wanted to study. Instead, he briefly attended Miami University. During the Depression, he found work in portrait photography studios in Philadelphia. Later, in West Palm Beach and Miami Beach, he became quite successful in that commercial field. On a visit to New York, he met Beaumont Newhall who supported his efforts, as did Ansel Adams and Alfred Stieglitz. Moving to New York finally, he befriended Man Ray, Piet Mondrian, and others in the city's art world and, still only in his twenties, began to be invited to exhibit his work. By the 1940s and later he was frequently commissioned to do portraits by major magazines, Life, Fortune, and Harper's Bazaar among them. Newman's style of portraiture masterfully integrates his subject within a setting reflective of that person's profession and personality. Widely travelled and honoured, Newman became a visiting professor at Cooper Union in New York in 1975.
— Tim Troy
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Arnold Newman
Newman, Arnold Abner, 1918-2006, American portrait photographer, b. New York City. He is known for his "environmental portraiture," photographs that capture their sitters in characteristic settings, often with objects emblematic of their lives. He opened his own studio in Miami Beach in 1942, moving to New York City in 1946. That year he made one his famous study of Igor Stravinsky, a photograph dominated by the curving black lid of the composer's grand piano. Often working for Harper's Bazaar, Look, and above all Life, Newman created compelling portraits those who defined his era, among them Pablo Picasso, Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Mantle, Afred Krupp, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. His work is featured in several books, including Artists: Portraits from Four Decades (1980), Arnold Newman's Americans (1992), and Arnold Newman (2000).
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Arnold Newman
| Arnold Newman | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Arnold Abner Newman |
| Born | March 3, 1918 |
| Died | June 6, 2006 (aged 88) Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York City |
| Nationality | American |
| Field | Portrait Photography News Photography Photography Teacher |
| Movement | Environmental Portraiture (founder/coined phrase) |
| Works | Fortune Life Newsweek |
| Awards | Infinity Award (1999) Lucie Award (2004) |
Arnold Abner Newman (3 March 1918, New York, NY – 6 June 2006, New York, NY) was an American photographer, noted for his "environmental portraits" of artists and politicians. He was also known for his carefully composed abstract still life images.
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Early life and career
Born in Manhattan, Newman grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey and later moved to Miami Beach, Florida. In 1936, he studied painting and drawing with an introduction to Modernism at the University of Miami. Unable to afford continuing after two years, he moved to Philadelphia, PA to work for a studio making 49-cent portraits in 1946.
Newman returned to Florida in 1942 to manage a portrait studio in West Palm Beach. Three years later he opened his own business in Miami Beach.
In 1946, Newman relocated to New York, opened Arnold Newman Studios and worked as a freelance photographer for Fortune, Life, and Newsweek. Though never a member, Newman frequented the Photo League during the 1940s.[1]
Success as a photographer
Newman found his vision in the empathy he felt for artists and their work. Although he photographed many personalities — Marlene Dietrich, John F. Kennedy, Harry S. Truman, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Arthur Miller, Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan, Mickey Mantle, and Audrey Hepburn he maintained that even if the subject is not known, or is already forgotten, the photograph itself must still excite and interest the viewer.
Newman is often credited with being the first photographer to use so-called environmental portraiture, in which the photographer places the subject in a carefully controlled setting to capture the essence of the individual's life and work. Newman normally captured his subjects in their most familiar surroundings with representative visual elements showing their professions and personalities. A musician for instance might be photographed in their recording studio or on stage, a Senator or other politician in their office or a representative building. Using a large-format camera and tripod, he worked to record every detail of a scene.
"I didn't just want to make a photograph with some things in the background," Newman told American Photo magazine in an interview. "The surroundings had to add to the composition and the understanding of the person. No matter who the subject was, it had to be an interesting photograph. Just to simply do a portrait of a famous person doesn't mean a thing."
Newman's best-known images were in black and white, although he often photographed in color. His black and white portrait of Igor Stravinsky seated at a grand piano became his signature image, even though it was rejected by the magazine that gave the assignment to Newman. He was one of the few photographers allowed to make a portrait of the famously camera-shy Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Among Newman's best-known color images is an eerie portrait that shows convicted former Nazi slave labor boss Alfried Krupp in one of Krupp's factories.
Newman taught photography at Cooper Union for many years. He was recovering from a stroke when he died at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York.[2]
Bibliography
"One Mind's Eye, The Portraits and Other Photographs of Arnold Newman", by Arnold Newman, Introduction by Robert A. Sobieszek, David R. Godine, Publisher, 1974.
"Arnold Newman", Essay by Phillip Brookman, Taschen, 2006.
Awards
- 1999 Infinity Award for Master of Photography, International Center of Photography, Manhattan[3]
- 2004 Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Portrait Photography, International Photography Awards program, Los Angeles, California[4]
References
External links
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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
Oxford Grove Art
The Concise Grove Dictionary of Art. Copyright © 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.
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Oxford Companion to the Photograph
The Oxford Companion to the Photograph. Copyright © 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
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Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
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