Exhibition Review: Saul Leiter’s Painted Nudes
Copyright Saul Leiter Foundation. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery New York and Jackson Fine Art Gallery, Atlanta.
Opening on Nov. 13, Jackson Fine Art Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia opened its doors to viewers who had made appointments in advance to view their newest Exhibition, The Garden, where Erik Madigan Heck and Saul Leiter’s photography are displayed. The Garden is an ongoing body of work depicting Heck’s wife and two young sons in a variety of richly colourful surroundings.
Copyright Saul Leiter Foundation. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery New York and Jackson Fine Art Gallery, Atlanta.
However, for many, the main draw to this exhibition will be the section of Saul Leiter’s Painted Nudes. The marriage of his highly-skilled photographic skills and painterly expertise culminate in these intimate, profound, and deeply confidential works, which are now available to the public. It was not until after Leiter passed away in November of 2013 that the public was able to access into his personal sphere. While Leitier is known for his prolific contribution to color photography in the 1940s and 1950s, acclaimed for his vibrant hue and artisan skill that stands out among his contemporaries – some say his most truthful and masterful work is his painted nudes.
Margit Erb, the founder and director of the Saul Leiter Foundation and close personal friend to Leiter in the last years of his life, writes, “Saul Leiter’s painted nudes are intensely intimate. They come from private interior spaces, and they represent some of the most quiet moments in Saul’s life and also some of his most creative.”
Copyright Saul Leiter Foundation. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery New York and Jackson Fine Art Gallery, Atlanta.
Saul moved to New York's East Village in the mid-1940s, where he lived for the duration of his life. During the 1950s and 1960s, Leiter participated in various exhibitions of black-and-white photography, becoming involved with what is now known as the New York School of photography. His skills as a fashion photographer led to professional relationships with Harper's Bazaar and Esquire.
Margit Erb writes that in the first year after Saul’s passing she found his painted nudes in his apartment. From within cabinets, strewn on shelves, and hidden in boxes, she began collecting these painted nudes to create a coherent body of work. “Some had been gathered carefully in binders, while others were found between the pages of books encased deep within Saul’s vast library.” She understood this practice of his to be less a shameful and hidden one, and more about the integration of art and the body within his daily life.
Copyright Saul Leiter Foundation. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery New York and Jackson Fine Art Gallery, Atlanta.
“They were a true obsession, and he produced hundreds of the painted nudes from the 1970s until about 1990. Their existence in such great numbers is bewildering. They are another of Saul’s great mysteries left for me and the world to ponder as his archive takes new shape in his home in New York’s East Village.”
Jackson Fine Art displays these painted photographs in rich gold frames, pulling the vibrant hues from the titillating nude photographs. His creativity and eye for beauty is evident in these bursting colorful works. The sensuality of the woman form is heightened by the intense neon streaks of paint. Those who are able to view these works in person will be lucky enough to see these multidimensional photographs in the flesh.
