Arnold Newman
Training his lens on the most illustrious cultural and intellectual figures of the twentieth century, Arnold Newman forged a new tradition of portrait photography. This exhibition of 21 portraits includes Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O’Keeffe, Marc Chagall, Louise Nevelson, Leonard Bernstein, and David Ben-Gurion.
For more than six decades, Arnold Newman has photographed the most illustrious cultural and intellectual figures of the twentieth century, emphasizing, literally and figuratively, his sitter’s place in the world. These “environmental portraits,” as they have come to be known, helped forge a new tradition in portrait photography.
This exhibition of twenty-one black and white photographic prints includes portraits of composers Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copeland; artists Marc Chagall, Louise Nevelson, Man Ray, Ben Shahn, Raphael and Moses Soyer, Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O’Keeffe; actor Zero Mostel; poet Allen Ginsberg; author Elie Wiesel; David Ben-Gurion; Henry Geldzahler; and Otto Frank (Anne Frank’s father), among others.
Arnold Newman (American, 1918–2006), Raphael and Moses Soyer, New York City, 1942, gelatin silver print, 11 11/16 x 8 1/8 in (29.7 cm x 20.6 cm). The Jewish Museum, New York. Anonymous Gift, 1996-43 © Arnold Newman