Arthur Sidney Siegel (August 2, 1913 – February 1, 1978) was an American photographer and educator. Siegel grew up in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and studied photography at the

New Bauhaus The Institute of Design (ID) is a graduate school of the Illinois Institute of Technology, a private university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The Institute of Design was founded in 1937 as "The New Bauhaus" by László Moholy-Nagy, a Ba ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, under the school's founder

László Moholy-Nagy László Moholy-Nagy (; ; born László Weisz; July 20, 1895 – November 24, 1946) was a Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian painter and photographer as well as a professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by Constructivism (art), con ...

. His photographs are included in the collections of multiple major museums, including two dedicated exhibitions at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

. Siegel lived in Chicago until his death in 1978.

Biography

Siegel began photographing in the mid-1920s as a youth. He studied at

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, and graduated with a degree in sociology at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

in 1937 and then enrolled in the

at the

Armour Institute The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour ...

.Arthur Siegel
at Britannica.com, updated January 28, 2020. There he studied under the school's founder,

, as well as

György Kepes György Kepes (; October 4, 1906 – December 29, 2001) was a Hungarian-born painter, photographer, designer, educator, and art theorist. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus (later the School of Design, t ...

, until 1938, when he returned to Detroit. He then began working as a

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and took journalism assignments for newspapers, magazines, and government agencies for the next several decades. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he photographed for the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

and the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

. After the war, he returned to the New Bauhaus (by then the

IIT Institute of Design The Institute of Design (ID) is a graduate school of the Illinois Institute of Technology, a private university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The Institute of Design was founded in 1937 as "The New Bauhaus" by László Moholy-Nagy, a Ba ...

) as an instructor, at the request of Moholy-Nagy. He eventually became head of the school's photography department. He left in 1955 to work in photojournalism full-time, and returned in 1965; in 1971, he was named president of the IIT Institute of Design. In 1955, he married Irene Yarovich, an artist whom he met at IIT. Siegel's photography was included in several major exhibitions at art galleries, including two shows devoted exclusively to Siegel at the

and as part of the "Image of America" exhibit at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

. He was noted for his use of experimental color techniques, and from the 1950s often explored abstract use of color as a vehicle for expression. He worked with light in novel ways by "introduc ngcreative methods of back-lighting and projecting light onto surfaces".Right of Assembly
Museum of Contemporary Photography. He also wrote extensively on photography and influenced the development of photographic education programs.

References

External links

Arthur Siegel (1913-1978) Papers, 1927-1985
at the Art Institute of Chicago {{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel, Arthur 1913 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American photographers American photojournalists Photographers from Detroit 20th-century American Jews Wayne State University alumni Illinois Institute of Technology faculty Military personnel from Detroit People of the United States Office of War Information University of Michigan alumni