
Peter Beard
Skull Photos for the Harry Horn Collection with Evelyn Kuhn, Andy Warhol, and Larry Rivers, 1976
Inscribed by Peter Beard and signed by Andy Warhol
Photography, Ink, 1976
17 x 9.50"
Peter Beard (b.1938) is an American photographer known for his photographs of Africa that combine painting, drawing, and annotation. Both artist and activist, Beard’s work captures the plight of a wildlife in Africa. Beard was raised in New York City, Alabama, and Long Island. He kept diaries and began making photographs at a young age. Beard attended Yale University in 1957 where he majored in Art History and met mentors Josef Albers, Richard Lindner and Vincent Scully. At age 17, Beard took his first trip to Africa with Quentin Keynes, Charles Darwin’s great grandson, and spent the summer photographing wildlife.
Inspired by earlier trips to Africa, Beard traveled to Kenya upon graduation from Yale. Working at Tsavo National Park, he photographed and documented the demise of thousands of elephants and other wildlife, later to become the subject of his first book, “The End of the Game.” During this time, Beard acquired Hog Ranch, a property near the Ngong Hills adjacent to the coffee farm owned by Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen, author of Out of Africa), which would become his lifelong home-base in East Africa. In 1961-62, Beard had travelled to Copenhagen to meet Karen Blixen. Blixen introduced Beard to her former majordomo (steward), Kamante Gatura. After Blixen’s death in 1962, Beard invited Kamante to live with him at Hog Ranch, which led to the creation of the Hog Ranch Art Department.
Beard befriended and collaborated with many artists, including Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, Richard Lindner, Truman Capote, and Francis Bacon, who painted monumental portraits of Beard over the years. His works have been exhibited in major museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; the International Center of Photography, New York; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburg, PA; La Triennale di Milano, Italy; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN; and Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton, NY. His first major retrospective opened at the Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, France in 1996-97. Beard shot for many renowned publications, including Vogue, Interview, Rolling Stone, and Life magazines. "Peter Beard," the book that has come to define his oeuvre, was published by Taschen in an Art Edition in 2006 and a Collector’s Edition in 2007. The 50th Anniversary Edition of "The End of the Game" was published by Taschen in 2015 with an introduction by the author Paul Thoreaux.
Peter Beard
Skull Photos for the Harry Horn Collection with Evelyn Kuhn, Andy Warhol, and Larry Rivers, 1976
Inscribed by Peter Beard and signed by Andy Warhol
Photography, Ink, 1976
17 x 9.50"
Peter Beard
'LARGE MUGGER CROCODILE, CIRCA 15-16 FEET', UGANDA, 1966 (Printed later)
Archival pigment print
54.50 x 80"
Peter Beard
Special Delivery (by hand) from Peter Beard in Montauk, 1975
Gelatin silver print with ink
11 x 13"
Peter Beard
Special Delivery & Happy Birthday
Polaroid, photo collage, acrylic paint
35.50 x 21.50"
Peter Beard
Anyone Seen My Wallet, 1991 Diary, 1991
Color photograph printed later. Signed, titled, dated and variously inscribed in ink.
12.50 x 13.50"
Follow This Artist
2011
SPECTRAL IMAGING PROJECT, United States National Endowment for the Humanities & the British Academy
2010
Elephant Parade, Somerset House, London, UK Life as a Legend: Marilyn Monroe, Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL Group Show, Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL
2009
The Fallern Angels, Watari-Um, Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
2008
Las Implicaciones de la Imagen (The implications of image), MUCA Roma, Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte, Mexico City, Mexico Afrika - Camera Work, Berlin, Germany
2006 - 2007
"Time’s Up!," Michael Hoppen Gallery. London, United Kingdom. November 29- January 1, 2007.
2004 - 2005
"Living Sculpture," Fahey/Klein Gallery. Los Angeles, California, USA. (solo); "Living Sculpture," Michael Hoppen Gallery. London, United Kingdom
2004
"The Andy Warhol Show," La Triennale di Milano. Milan, Italy.; "Light Bound: Photographers Regard the Book," The Minneapolis Institute of Art. Minneapolis, Minnesota
2003
"Living Sculpture," Galerie Kamel Mennour. Paris, France. (solo) 2002 "Francis Bacon in Arles,1956-1985, the Van Gogh series by Francis Bacon," Vincent Van Gogh Foundation. Arles, France.
2001
"Peter Beard: Wild Life," The Andy Warhol Museum. Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. (solo)
2000
"Nomade," Galeries Lafayette. Paris, France.
1999
"Stress and Density," KunstHausWien. Vienna, Austria. (solo); "28 Pieces," Galerie Kamel Mennour. Paris, France. (solo)
1998 - 1999
"50 Years of Portraits," Toronto, LA, New Orleans, Santa Fe. (solo)
1998
"Pettiness and Futility," Fahey/Klein Gallery. Los Angeles, California, USA. (solo); "Peter Beard," FotoFestival Naarden. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (solo)
1997
"Oltre la fine del Mondo (Beyond the End of the World)," Palazzo Reale-Sala delle Cariatidi. Milan, Italy. (solo)
1996 - 1997
"Carnets Africains," Paris, France. (solo)
1995
"Fact and Fiction: Animal Visions for the 21st Century," Light Factory Photographic Arts Center. Charlotte, North Carolina.
1993
"African Diary Wallpaper," Seibu Museum. Tokyo, Japan. (solo)
1991 - 1992
"Peter Beard," Espace des Arts. Chalon-sur Saone, France. (solo)
1988
"End of The Game," Greenberg Gallery. St. Louis, Missouri.
1979
"Whispers from Earth – NASA: Voyager Time Capsule," Photographers Gallery. London, United Kingdom.
1979
"Diary," Seibu Museum. Tokyo, Japan. (solo); "Burnt Diaries," Watari Gallery. Tokyo, Japan. (solo)
1977
"Peter Beard," International Center of Photography. New York, New York, USA. (solo)
1975
Blum-Helman. New York, New York, USA.