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 Livingston as "a loosely defined group of photographers who lived and worked in New York City during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s" and who, although disinclined to commit themselves to any grou ...

.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 Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. His father was a well known

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

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 of t ...

. His mother gave him his first

camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to become an artist. He had developed an early interest in painting and had met the

Abstract Expressionist Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

painter

Richard Pousette-Dart Richard Warren Pousette-Dart (June 8, 1916 – October 25, 1992) was an American abstract expressionist artist most recognized as a founder of the New York School of painting.Kimmelman, Michae"Richard Pousette-Dart, 76, Dies; An Early Abstract E ...

. Pousette-Dart and W. Eugene Smith encouraged Leiter to pursue photography and he was soon taking black and white pictures with a 35 mm

Leica Leica may refer to: Companies * Ernst Leitz GmbH, later divided into: ** Leica Biosystems GmbH, a cancer diagnostics company ** Leica Camera AG, a German camera and optics manufacturer ** Leica Geosystems AG, a Swiss manufacturer of surveying and ...

, which he acquired in exchange 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 American photographer and documentary filmmaker. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled ''The Americans'', earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his ...

and

Diane Arbus Diane Arbus (; ; March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971
by

, and helped form what Jane Livingston has termed the New York School of photographers in the 1940s and 1950s. Beginning in the early 1960s, Leiter worked as a fashion photographer for the next 20 years and was published in ''Show,

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'', British ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

, 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 gentleman ...

'' and later in ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

''.

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (; March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter and curator and a pioneer of fashion photography. His gown images for the magazine ''Art et Décoration'' in 1911 were the first modern ...

included Leiter's black and white photographs in the 1953 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 (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

. 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 held 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. 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 set his photographs apart from some of the defining characteristics of the putative 'New York School' – as typified by the visceral encounters with the pulse and anxieties of street life familiar from the 1950s imagery of photographers such as Robert Frank and William Klein. Leiter, by contrast, operated on a more reflective, less overtly confrontational mode, seeing out tranquility in the Manhattan maelstrom." Leiter died on November 26, 2013, aged 89. in New York City.

Publications

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

Steidl Steidl is a German-language publisher based in Göttingen, Germany. Founded in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl, it publishes photobooks. Overview The company was started by Gerhard Steidl.Bill Kouwenhoven, "Off to see the wizard", ''British Journa ...

, 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, 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. *''Saul Leiter Retrospektive.'' Hamburg: Kehrer Verlag, 2012. *''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. ** London:

, 2018. *''In My Room.'' Göttingen; Steidl, 2018. *''Women.'' Tokyo: Space Shower, 2018. . Mostly photographs, some paintings. *''East 10th Street.'' Antwerp: Fifty One Publication, 2019. *''Forever Saul Leiter.'' London: Thames & Hudson, 2022. *''The Unseen Saul Leiter.'' London: Thames & Hudson, 2022. . Previously unseen slides from Leiter archive, curated by Erb & Parillo.

Filmography

*'' In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter'' (2013) – documentary about Leiter directed and produced by Tomas Leach; 75 mins

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 *2024: ''Saul Leiter: An Unfinished World'', MK Gallery, Milton Keynes

Collections

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

Addison Gallery of American Art Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario, a community United States * Addison, Alabama, a town * Addison, Illinois, a village * Addison, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Addison, Maine, a town * Addison, Michigan, a vil ...

* The Albertina Museum, Vienna *

Amon Carter Museum The Amon Carter Museum of American Art (also known as the Carter) is located in Fort Worth, Texas, in the city's cultural district. The museum's permanent collection features paintings, photography, sculpture, and works on paper by leading arti ...

, Fort Worth *

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 ...

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, 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 modern art, ...

, Baltimore *

Milwaukee Art Museum The Milwaukee Art Museum (also referred to as MAM) is an art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its collection of over 34,000 works of art and gallery spaces totaling 150,000 sq. ft. (13,900 m²) make it the largest art museum in the state of Wis ...

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 list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

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. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...

, New York *

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an 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 charge, the museum was privately established in ...

, Washington, D.C. *

St. Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is an art museum located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. With paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from around the world, its three-story building stands in Forest Park in ...

, St. Louis * Staatliche Museen Zu Berlin, *

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London *

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

of American Arts, New York

References

External links

Saul Leiter Foundation website

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

"Saul Leiter"
''LensCulture''.
''In No Great Hurry''
a feature documentary about Saul Leiter by Tomas Leach
''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 Jews from Pennsylvania