Posted:Apr 19, 2023

Saul Leiter Exhibition Coming to Shibuya Hikarie Hall in July

Saul Leiter exhibition to be held at Shibuya Hikarie Hall from July 8 to August 23, 2023. On display are over 400 works, including newly discovered works, previously unseen black-and-white photographs, and paintings.

Saul Leiter “Untitled” Date unknown ©Saul Leiter Foundation

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Saul Leiter’s birth, the Bunkamura Museum of Art is hosting the Saul Leiter: Origins in Color exhibition at the Shibuya Hikarie Hall from July 8 to August 23, 2023. Two previous exhibitions of Saul Leiter’s work at Bunkamura introduced Japanese viewers to the work of a previously unknown photographer and proved to be a great success.

Photo report:

Saul Leiter “Untitled” Date unknown ©Saul Leiter Foundation

Saul Leiter (1923-2013) was a leading fashion photographer in New York from the 1950s until he retired from commercial photography in the 1980s. In 2006, at the age of 80, Leiter, who had never shown any interest in wealth or fame and always been faithful to his aesthetic sense, returned to the public eye with his first photo book Early Color. This rediscovery of Saul Leiter resulted in numerous exhibitions and publications.

Leiter’s death in 2013 left much of his work unsorted, but the Saul Leiter Foundation, established the following year, launched the slide project to create a database of his archive. There are tens of thousands of color slides alone, and it is said that it will take more than ten years to reveal the full extent of his work. One could say that even after his death, Saul Leiter remains a “developing” artist. Featuring over 400 works, including a large-scale color slide projection of newly discovered works, previously unseen black-and-white photographs, paintings, and other new works, this exhibition will reveal the full scope of the pioneer of color photography's work.

Saul Leiter “Untitled” Date unknown ©Saul Leiter Foundation

Highlights include unpublished black and white snapshots from the 1950s and 1960s when Saul Leiter began working with photography and portraits of fellow artists, including Andy Warhol, Eugene Smith, Thelonious Monk, and many others. The exhibition also offers a glimpse into the flourishing American culture of the 1950s and 1960s through Leiter’s early photography for fashion magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar.

Saul Leiter February 1963 issue of Harper's Bazaar ©Saul Leiter Foundation

Saul Leiter is often described as a photographer with a painter’s eye. Even after his photography success, he never put down his brush and continued to paint as if keeping a diary, even after retirement from the public eye. He was influenced by the Impressionists, Japanese ukiyo-e, and especially by the Naviste School of Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard. Leiter's paintings are indeed the key to unlocking the secret of his extraordinary color photography world.

Saul Leiter “Untitled” ca. 1960

In addition to the main exhibition, the exhibition space will be used to recreate part of Leiter's atelier, where many works and materials remain to this day. The exhibition will open at the Shibuya Hikarie Hall on July 8, 2023.

Saul Leiter “Andy Warhol” ca. 1952

Saul Leiter: Origins in Color
Venue: Shibuya Hikarie Hall (Hikarie 9F)
Hours: 11:00-20:00
Tickets: Adults ¥1800; University and High School Students ¥1000; Junior High and Elementary School Students ¥700; Persons with Disability Certificates + 1 Companion Half price.
Official webiste (JP): https://www.bunkamura.co.jp/museum/exhibition/23_saulleiter.html

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