Saul Leiter (December 3, 1923 – November 26, 2013) was an American photographer and painter whose early work in the 1940s and 1950s was an important contribution to what came to be recognized as the

New York school of photography The New York school of photography is identified by Jane LivingstonA potted CV of Livingston may be found in, the Getty Research Institute, 2011. as "a loosely defined group of photographers who lived and worked in New York City during the 1930s, 1 ...

.Jane Livingston, ''The New York School: Photographs 1936–1963'' (New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1992; ).

Life and work

Saul Leiter was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. His father was a well known

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

scholar and Saul studied to become a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

. His mother gave him his first camera at age 12.Sire, Agnès. ''Saul Leiter,'' Steidl Publishers, Göttingen, Germany 2008. At age 23, he left theology school and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to become an artist. He had developed an early interest in painting and was fortunate to meet the

Abstract Expressionist Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of th ...

painter Richard Pousette-Dart. Pousette-Dart and

W. Eugene Smith William Eugene Smith (December 30, 1918 – October 15, 1978) was an American photojournalist.Peacock, Scot. "W(illiam) Eugene Smith." ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2003. ''Biography In Context'' He has been described as "perhaps the sin ...

encouraged Leiter to pursue photography and he was soon taking black and white pictures with a 35 mm Leica, which he acquired for a few Eugene Smith prints. In 1948, he started taking color photographs. He began associating with other contemporary photographers such as

Robert Frank Robert Frank (November 9, 1924 – September 9, 2019) was a Swiss photographer and documentary filmmaker, who became an American binational. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled ''The Americans'', earned Frank comparisons to a modern-da ...

and

Diane Arbus Diane Arbus (; née Nemerov; March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971
" The New York ...

and helped form what Jane Livingston has termed the New York School of photographers during the 1940s and 1950s. Leiter worked as a fashion photographer for the next 20 years and was published in ''Show,

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', British ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

, Queen,'' and ''Nova.'' In the late 1950s the art director Henry Wolf published Leiter’s color fashion work in ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' and later in ''

Harper’s Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the s ...

''.

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography. Steichen was credited with tr ...

included Leiter’s black and white photographs in the exhibition ''Always the Young Stranger'' 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 between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

in 1953. Leiter’s work is featured prominently in Jane Livingston’s book ''The New York School'' (1992) and in Martin Harrison’s ''Appearances: Fashion Photography since 1945'' (1991). In 2008, The Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation in Paris mounted Leiter's first museum exhibition in Europe with an accompanying catalog. Leiter is the subject of a 2012 feature-length documentary '' In No Great Hurry - 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter,'' directed and produced by

Tomas Leach Tomas Leach is a British filmmaker and cinematographer known for his work on documentary features. Early life Leach was born in Exeter, England. He studied at the Arts University Bournemouth before taking a scholarship at the Fabrica Research ...

. Leiter is a featured subject, among others, in the documentary film ''Tracing Outlines'' (2015) by 2nd State Productions. Martin Harrison, editor and author of ''Saul Leiter Early Color'' (2006), writes, "Leiter’s sensibility . . . placed him outside the visceral confrontations with urban anxiety associated with photographers such as Robert Frank or William Klein. Instead, for him the camera provided an alternate way of seeing, of framing events and interpreting reality. He sought out moments of quiet humanity in the Manhattan maelstrom, forging a unique urban pastoral from the most unlikely of circumstances." Leiter died on 26 November 2013 in New York City.

Publications

*''Early Color.'' Introduction by Martin Harrison. **Göttingen:

Steidl Steidl is a German-language publisher, an international publisher of photobooks, and a printing company, based in Göttingen, Germany. It was started in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl and is still run by him. Overview The company was started by Ger ...

, 2006. . **Göttingen: Steidl, 2013. . *''Saul Leiter.'' **Paris: Delpire, 2007. Photo Poche series. **London:

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, 2008. . Photofile series. *''Early Black and White.'' **Göttingen: Steidl, 2008. **Göttingen: Steidl; Howard Greenberg Gallery, 2014. . Two volumes, boxed edition. By

Max Kozloff Max Kozloff (born 1933) is an American art historian, art critic of modern art and photographer. He has been art editor at ''The Nation'', and Executive Editor of ''Artforum''. His essay "American Painting During the Cold War" is of particular imp ...

, edited by Howard Greenberg and Bob Shamis with the assistance of Margit Erb, with an additional essay by Jane Livingston. *''Saul Leiter.'' Göttingen: Steidl, 2008. . Preface by Agnès Sire. *''Photographs and Works on Paper.'' Antwerp: Fifty One Publication, 2011. . Exhibition Catalogue. *''Here's more, why not?.'' Antwerp: Fifty One Publication, 2013. . *''Painted Nudes.'' London: Sylph, 2015. . *''All About Saul Leiter.'' Seigensha, 2017. Catalogue published to accompany an exhibition at the Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, 2017. Captions in English and Japanese. *''Women.'' Tokyo: Space Shower, 2018. . Mostly photographs, some paintings.

Solo exhibitions

*1944: Ten Thirty Gallery, Cleveland. *1945: The Outlines Gallery, Pittsburgh. *1947: Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH. *1950s: Tanager Gallery, New York. *1954: ''Emerging Talent.'' Curated by Clement Greenberg. Samuel Koontz Gallery, New York. *1972: Midtown Y, New York. *1984: Gallery Lafayette, New York. *1985: Gallery Lafayette, New York. *1993: Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York. *1994: Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York. *1997: ''Saul Leiter, In Color.'' Martha Schneider Gallery, Chicago. *1997: ''Saul Leiter, In Color.'' Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York. *2004: ''Saul Leiter, In Color.'' Staton Greenberg Gallery, Santa Barbara. *2005: ''Saul Leiter, Early Color.'' Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York. *2006: ''The Fashion Photographs of Saul Leiter,'' Festival of Fashion Photography, Hyères, France. *2006: ''Saul Leiter, Color,'' Fifty One Fine Art Photography, Antwerp. *2006: ''In Living Color, Photographs by Saul Leiter,'' Milwaukee Art Museum. *2007: ''Saul Leiter, Early Color,'' University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor. *2008: ''Saul Leiter,'' Galerie Camera Obscura, Paris. *2008: ''Saul Leiter,'' Faggionato Fine Arts, London. *2008: ''Saul Leiter,'' Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York. *2008: ''Saul Leiter,'' Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta. *2008: ''Saul Leiter,'' Galleria C arla Sozzani, Milan. *2008: ''Saul Leiter,'' Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris. *2009: ''Saul Leiter,'' Fifty One Fine Art Photography, Antwerp. *2010: ''Saul Leiter,'' Mois de la Foto, Paris. *2011: ''Saul Leiter, New York Reflections,'' Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam. *2011: ''Saul Leiter, Early Color'', Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne *2011: ''Saul Leiter, Photographs and works on paper,'' Fifty One Fine Art Photography, Antwerp. *2012: ''Saul Leiter, Retrospective,'' Deichtorhallen Hamburg. *2013: ''Saul Leiter, Here's more, why not,'' Fifty One Fine Art Photography, Antwerp. *2013: ''Saul Leiter, Black & white,'' Fifty One Fine Art Photography, Antwerp. *2013: ''Saul Leiter,'' Kunst Haus Wien. *2015: ''Homage to Saul Leiter,'' Fifty One gallery, Antwerp.

Collections

Leiter's work is held in the following public collections: *

Addison Gallery of American Art The Addison Gallery of American Art is an academic museum dedicated to collecting American art, organized as a department of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. History Directors of the gallery include Bartlett H. Hayes, Jr. (1940– ...

* The Albertina Museum, Vienna *

Amon Carter Museum Amon may refer to: Mythology * Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra * Aamon, a Goetic demon People Momonym * Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah Given name * Amon G. Carter (1879–1955), American pub ...

, Fort Worth *

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

, Baltimore *

Milwaukee Art Museum The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) is an art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its collection contains nearly 25,000 works of art. Location and Visit Located on the lakefront of Lake Michigan, the Milwaukee Art Museum is one of the largest art museu ...

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Buil ...

, New York *

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...

, Washington, D.C. * St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis * Staatliche Museen Zu Berlin, *

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, London *

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

of American Arts, New York

References

External links

Saul Leiter ''Early Black and White'' Photo Book
The Eye of Photography

18 photographs by Saul Leiter

In No Great Hurry
a feature documentary about Saul Leiter by

'Coffee and conversation with photographer Saul Leiter'
in 2008 by Visual Productions NYC {{DEFAULTSORT:Leiter, Saul 1923 births 2013 deaths Artists from Pittsburgh Photographers from Pennsylvania American people of Jewish descent