Education

Yale University (graduated 1961)

Career:Escapism through collage, books, diaries and anthropology

Major exhibitions include

 

info@peterbeard.com

Chronology

1938
  • Born on January 22, New York City
1945-52
  • Attends Buckley School, NY
1952-56
  • Attends Pomfret School, CT
1955
  • First trip to Africa in June with Charles Darwin’s great grandson
1956-57
  • Attends Felsted College, Essex, England
1957-61
  • Studies with Joseph Albers at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
1961-62
  • Meets and begins working with Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), author of Out of Africa, Shadows in the Grass, and Gothic Tales
1963
  • Stars in Mekas Brothers' movie, Hallelujah the Hills, screened in the first New York Film Festival
1964-65
  • Works in Tsavo National Park, Kenya and begins documenting the destruction of the habitat and subsequent death of over 35,000 elephants
  • Acquires Hog Ranch in Kenya (45 acres near Ngong Hills) from Mervyn Cowie.
1965
  • First printing of The End of The Game–Last Word from Paradise
1965-67
  • Cover-story on elephants for Life Magazine with Romain Gary, "Letter to an Elephant"
1966
  • Works with The Nuffield Unit of Tropical Ecology on a population dynamics study of elephants and hippopotamuses
1966-68
  • Collaborates with Alistair Graham on crocodile study at Lake Rudolf for Kenya game department; later to become the basis of Eyelids of Morning– The Mingled Destines of Crocodiles and Men
1969
  • Arrested by newly independent Karen police in Kenya for "assault and wrongful confinement" of a poacher at Hog Ranch in the suni (smallest African antelope) poacher incident from years before
1970
  • Andy Warhol collage “Introduction to the Things of Life," 27 pages for the upcoming Taschen book From a Dead Man’s Wallet
1971-72
  • Extensive photographing of dead, starved elephants in Kenya
1972
  • Collaborates with Truman Capote on the It Shall Soon Be Here, a book about the Rolling Stones’ tour "Exiles on Main Street," (never actually published)
  • Dead Elephant Interviews with Francis Bacon, later used as the introduction in the Metropolitan Museum catalogue for Bacon’s 1976 show
  • Death of Jerome Hill
1972-75
  • Photographs Mount Kenya and the Aberdare's Forest fauna and flora living between Hog Ranch, Kenya and Thunderbolt Ranch, Montauk, NY.
1973-76
  • First printing of Eyelids of Morning - The Mingled Destines of Crocodiles and Men
1975-76
  • First printing of Longing for Darkness - Kamante's Tales from Out of Africa
  • Brings Iman to New York and starts her modeling career with Wilhelmina
1975
  • First show at Blum Helman Gallery
1977
  • First one-man show at the International Center of Photography, NYC and first giant collages, featuring the dead elephant swimming pool
  • July 28 Montauk mill burns down along with twenty years of diaries and original works of art
1978
  • Makes his first film for ABC, "Wild World of Sports" with Dr. Norman Borlang’s interviews
1979
  • Peter Beard works exhibited at the Seibu Museum, Tokyo, show assisted by Eiko Ishioko
  • “Whispers from Earth – NASA: Voyager Time Capsule” Photographers Gallery, London, UK
1985
  • First giant polaroids with Khadijah, Iman and Magritte Ramme
1986
  • Peter Beard began collaborating with Polaroid Corporation’s Artists Support Program and subsequently in 1992 and 1993. Nine giant Polaroids from this collaboration were added to the Polaroid Collections of Photography.
1988
  • Zara Sophia Beard born on 22 September in New York City
  • ABC special "Peter Beard in Africa-Last Word from Paradise"
1991-92
  • “Peter Beard” Espace des Arts, Chalon-sur Saone, France
1993
  • Printing of Diary - Diary Show opens in Tokyo
1995
  • “Fact and Fiction: Animal Visions for the 21st Century” Light Factory Photographic Arts Center in Charlotte, North Carolina
1996-97
  • First major retrospective, Carnets Africains opens at the Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, France
  • Robert Delpire’s Photo Poche #70 is published, featuring Peter Beard
1997
  • Permanent exhibition at the Hotel Nord-Pinus, Arles, France
  • Peter Beard works exhibited at Michael Hoppen Photography, London
  • Oltre la fine del Mondo opens in Milan at the Palacio Royale, accompanied by the catalogue Beyond the End of the World
  • Peter Beard works exhibited at Galleria Photology, Milan
1998
  • 50 Years of Portraits opens at Gallery One in Toronto, Canada
  • Stress and Density opens at Camera Works, Berlin -Peter Beard art works exhibited at Paris Photo
  • Peter Beard works exhibited at the photo exhibition Under/Exposed, Stockholm, Sweden
  • “Peter Beard” FotoFestival Naarden, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1999
  • Pettiness and Futility opens at Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles, California
  • Peter Beard works exhibited in the FotoFestival Naarden, Amsterdam
  • Stress and Density opens at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in conjunction with PhotoEspana, Madrid
  • Peter Beard- Fifty Years of Portraits is published by Arena Editions, Sante Fe, New Mexico.
  • Stress and Density opens at the KunstHausWien, Vienna, Austria
  • Stress and Density book is published
2000
  • 28 pieces show at Kamel Mennour Gallery, Paris, France
  • Peter Beard works exhibited at FIAC, France
  • “Nomade” Galeries Lafayette, Paris, France
2001
  • “Peter Beard: Wild Life” The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
2002
  • Francis Bacon in Arles, 1956-1985, the Van Gogh series by Francis Bacon at the Vincent Van Gogh Foundation, Arles
2003
  • Living Sculpture Show opens at Kamel Mennour Gallery in Paris, France
  • Shoots the Sony Campaign in Sardinia in May
2004
  • Living Sculpture Show opens at Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, March
  • Opening of Sony Campaign-exhibition at Arte Armani in Milan, Italy, June
  • Zara's Tales is published by Knopf, November
  • Begins work on Taschen book project, November
  • Living Sculpture Show opens at Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, England, December
  • “Light Bound: Photographers Regard the Book”, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • The Andy Warhol Show, La Triennale di Milano, Milan Italy
2006
  • Peter Beard (Collectors Edition and Art Edition) is published by Taschen
  • Time’s Up opens at Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, UK
2007
  • Peter Beard travels and shoots extensively in Turkey
  • Peter Beard is interviewed in "Beautiful Darling" a documentary on Candy Darling, The Life and Times of the Andy Warhol Superstar directed by James Rasin
  • The Camargo Foundation (Cassis, France): Nine photographs donated to the permanent collection
2008
  • Shoots the 2009 Pirelli Calendar in Botswana, Africa in May. Calendar launched November.
  • End of The Game republished by Taschen in May
  • Peter Beard Trade Edition is published by Taschen in October
  • Peter Beard image is chosen for UNESCO holiday card collection