Artworks

LISETTE MODEL (Austrian, 1901-1983)

Model was interested in depicting all aspects of modern society—the emotion, frustration, tension, anxiety, and frantic tempo that shaped urban life in between the wars. Her first series, images of the idle rich vacationing on Nice's Promenade des Anglais, won instant acclaim and are among her most recognized photographs..

Born in Vienna, Model was a student of Arnold Schönberg, and was greatly influenced by the Expressionist avant-garde aesthetic and philosophy emerging in Europe in the first half of the 20th century. Shortly after moving to New York City in 1938 she joined the Photo League and had her first solo exhibition. Model was invited to teach at the New School for Social Research in New York City in 1951, where she influenced notable photographers such as Diane Arbus, Rosalind Solomon, and Larry Fink, among others. She continued to teach until her death in 1983. She was the recipient of many prestigious awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1965. In 2011, Bruce Silverstein Gallery began working with Model’s estate and organized a major show of her work.

Model has been the subject of exhibitions worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; International Center of Photography, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art; New Orleans Museum of Art; Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C.; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna; National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Aperture Gallery, New York; and the Musee du Jeu de Paume, Paris.

Her work is in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; George Eastman House, Rochester; Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Cleveland Museum of Art; Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York among others.