An exhibition of work by some of the most important photographers of the 20th century from the collection of Howard Greenberg, one of the leaders of the modern photography market, will tour in Europe beginning this fall. Howard Greenberg, Collection will be on view at the Musée de l’Elysée Lausanne, Switzerland, September 21, 2012 – January 6, 2013, and at the Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris, January 15 – April 28, 2013. Dating from the early 1900s to as recently as 1992, the exhibition will feature the work of such groundbreaking artists as Diane Arbus, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, André Kertész, and William Klein.

Nearly 120 photographs from Greenberg’s collection of more than 500 will be on view, most for the first time. Greenberg’s collection, built over the last 30 years, stands out for the breadth and depth of its content and the extraordinary quality of its prints. It is also highly personal and represents Greenberg’s unique experience in the photography world. A catalogue published by Steidl will accompany the exhibition, which includes a conversation between Howard Greenberg and Sam Stourdzé, director of the Musée de l’Elysée, an institution devoted to photography.

Howard Greenberg, Collection focuses on the development of the modern history of photography as it grew and finally became recognized as its own genre in the fine arts. The exhibition traces the development of modernity with work from early in the 20th century by Edward Steichen and Edward Weston to the Czech photographers František Drtikol and Josef Sudek. The architecture and urban life of New York City provides the context for a number of images from the 1930s to the 1970s by Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Bruce Davidson, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, William Klein, Saul Leiter, Helen Levitt, Weegee, and Garry Winogrand. An important section of the exhibition is dedicated to images that photographers Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange shot for the Farm Security Administration as witnesses to the Great Depression.

Among the highlights in the exhibition is the first print of Eugene Smith’s Three Generations of Welsh Miners, 1950, depicting a grandfather, father, and son, all with blackened faces, standing outside a mine. As Howard Greenberg has written, “It is one of the greatest documentary photographs ever made. It digs deep into your soul. It turns black and darkness into pure spirit and emotion.”

A stunning 1959 image that Ralph Eugene Meatyard made while looking out of a window during a snowstorm immediately captured Greenberg’s attention. He has written, “When I first saw this print, I was completely smitten. I knew Meatyard’s work and I was familiar with his motifs, but this was unlike anything I had seen before. I found it amazing and radical.”

“It had my name written all over it,” is how Greenberg described Walker Evans’s Detail of Star Pressing Club, Vicksburg, Mississippi, 1936, when he first saw it. As Greenberg notes, “Evans made a number of pictures on postcard stock in the 1930s with the notion of creating something to sell at the Museum of Modern Art bookstore. I don’t think the project was ever fully realized, but he did embark on printing a lot of his negatives. I knew the original photograph that this image was derived from, and when I looked at this new conception, I saw in it the complete expression of the genius of Walker Evans.”

Howard Greenberg, Collection is organized jointly by the Musée de l’Elysée Lausanne and the Fondation Henry Cartier-Bresson, Paris, and is curated by Sam Stourdzé, director, Musée de l'Elysée Lausanne, Anne Lacoste, curator, Musée de l'Elysée Lausanne, and Agnès Sire, director, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Musée de l’Elysée Lausanne, Switzerland

September 21, 2012 – January 6, 2013

Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris

Greenberg to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award from George Eastman House

Acknowledging his longstanding and critical contribution to the world of photography, Howard Greenberg will receive the Lifetime Achievement in Photography award on Monday, October 29, 2012, at the George Eastman House’s Celebrating Light & Motion Gala in New York City. The award celebrates Greenberg’s trailblazing career, building awareness of—and appreciation for—fine art photography. He is known as an authority on 19th- and 20th-century photography, and has been an acknowledged leader in establishing its value on the fine art market. The award also recognizes Greenberg’s myriad roles as a photographer, as founder in 1977 of the Center for Photography at Woodstock, as a longtime member of the board of directors of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), and as owner for over 30 years of the Howard Greenberg Gallery. 

Howard Greenberg Gallery

Howard Greenberg Gallery is located at 41 East 57th Street, Suite 1406, New York.

For more information, contact 212-334-0010 or info@howardgreenberg.com or visit www.howardgreenberg.com.