Peter beard

The artist and bon vivant lived a spectacular life, but in death, shadows loom over his legacy.

The photographer, who died this week at 82, was an avatar of the romantic, adventurous, and elemental life.

Master photographer Peter Beard in Montaulk 1975 Mary Russell

Cheryl Tiegs and Peter Beard attends Scenery-Greenery Celebrity Cocktail Party on July 31, 1982 at Montauk Manor in Montauk, New York.

Peter Beard (1938–2020) was an American artist and writer whose visceral documentary approach to artmaking garnered great critical acclaim. As the writer Terry Southern once described: ‘[Beard’s] artistry may be seen as an exquisite synthesis of three major sources: Dutch/Flemish, Picasso/Braque, and, by his own account, the dark savagery of Francis Bacon.’ Beard was born […]

Peter Beard

Toward sunset find a silent shuttered room. Sit or lie; let your eyes slide shut, your heart slow. Your mind will likely race - a smear of pictures, leering sideshows, music. Places you've tasted, your private dreams. All ways to bribe you from the dare you take, this risk of a trek toward home, a healing journey. Coax your lidless inward eye to find... the place where you know broad serenity... here, way out west.

Peter Beard, 2005.

Peter Beard, self portrait, 1968.

Whether photographing elephants or Mick Jagger, Beard approached the world with a spirit of inquiry and adventure. We look back on the work of a pioneer, who died earlier this month