I am sad to report that legendary American photographer
Lida Moser, who for years lived in retirement in nearby Rockville, Maryland, passed away today around 2:30PM.
This grand photographer was not only one of the most respected
American photographers of the 20th century - respected by fellow photographers, curators and all human beings -- but also a pioneer in the
field of photojournalism. Her photography has been in the middle of a
revival and rediscovery of vintage photojournalism, and has sold in the five figures at Christie's auctions and continues to be collected by both
museums and private collectors worldwide. In a career spanning over 60
years, Moser
has produced a body of works consisting of thousands of photographs and
photographic assemblages that defy categorization and genre or label
assignment.
Additionally, Canadian television a few years ago finished filming a documentary about her life; the second
in the last few years, and
Moser’s work has been for years in the collection of many museums worldwide. A couple of the years ago, the Smithsonian Institution purchased over 200 photos by Moser of her beloved New York.
She
was once called the "grandmother of American street photography" by an
art critic, which prompted a quick rebuttal by Moser, who called the
writer's editor and told him that she wasn't the "fucking grandmother of
anything or anyone, and would he [the writer] ever describe Ansel Adams
or any other male photographer as the 'grandfather' of any style."
Tough New Yorker.
I
once sold one of her rare figure studies to a big famous photography
collector from the West Coast (who collects mostly nude photography).
There were four or five prints of the image, taken and printed around
1961, but one had all the markings and touch-up evidence of the actual
photo that had been used by the magazine, and thus I sent him that one.
He
called me to complain that although he loved Moser's work, that he
wasn't too happy with the retouching, and could I ask Lida for one of
the untouched photos.
Now, you gotta understand that
these images were taken and touched-up by hand for publication in a
newspaper or magazine (since they were nudies, the latter probably).
They were not touched up for a gallery or an art show - they were
"battlefield" prints of a working photographer.
I
called Lida and explained the situation over the phone. "Sweetie," she
said to me in her strong New York accent, "you call that guy right back
and tell him that you talked to Lida Moser and that Lida Moser told you
to tell him: Fuck You!"
I didn't do that, but just sent him an untouched vintage print.
Tough New Yorker.
Lida was a well-known figure in the New York art scene of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, and
a portrait of Lida Moser by American painter Alice Neel hangs in the
permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. Neel painted a total of four Moser portraits over her lifetime, and one of them was included in the
National Museum of Women in the Arts'
"Alice Neel's Women" exhibition.
"Charles Mingus in his Apartment in New York City", c. 1965.
Among
her body of works there are also loads of photographs of well-known
artists and musicians that either hung around Lida's apartment in NYC or
who were part of her circle of friends.
Lida Moser's
photographic career started as a student and studio assistant in 1947
in Berenice Abbott's studio in New York City, where she became an active
member of the
New York Photo League. She then worked for
Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Look and
many other magazines throughout the next few decades, and traveled
extensively throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.
In 1950
Vogue, and (and subsequently
Look
magazine) assigned Lida Moser to carry out an illustrated report on
Canada, from one ocean to another. When she arrived at the Windsor
station in Montreal, in June of that same year, she met by chance, Paul
Gouin, then a Cultural Advisor to Duplessis government. This chance
meeting led Moser to change her all-Canada assignment for one centered
around Quebec.
Armed
with her camera and guided by the research done by the Abbot
Felix-Antoine Savard, the folklorist Luc Lacourcière and accompanied by
Paul Gouin, Lida Moser then discovers and photographs a traditional
Quebec, which was still little touched by modern civilization and the
coming urbanization of the region.
Decades later, a
major exhibition of those photographs at the McCord Museum of Canadian
History became the museum’s most popular exhibit ever.
She also authored and has been part of many books and publications on and about photography. She also wrote a series of
"Camera View" articles on photography for
The New York Times between 1974-81.
Her
work has been exhibited in many museums worldwide and is in the
permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, the
National Archives, Ottawa, the National Galleries of Scotland, National
Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, the Library of Congress, Les Archives
Nationales du Quebec, Corcoran Gallery, Phillips Collection and many
others.
And that iconic photo of the window washers cleaning windows at the Exxon Building in NYC was actually made into a 3D sculpture at Leggoland (without Moser's permission) in Florida.
Moser was an active member of the Photo League and the New York School.
The Photo League
was the seminal birth of American documentary photography. It was a
group that was at times at school, an association and even a social
club. Disbanded in 1951, the League promoted photojournalism with an
aesthetic consciousness that reaches street photography to this day.
"New York City, Office Building Lobby" c. 1965
If
you are a female photographer, I hope that you didn't miss the opportunity to visit the Arts
Club a couple of years ago when they hosted a wonderful show of her works... and hopefully met one of the women who set the path for all of you.
The
Arts Club show was curated by my good friend Erik Denker, the Senior
Lecturer, Education Division at the National Gallery of Art, who is also
an authority on all things Moser. The show was titled "The World of John
Koch" and depicted Moser's portraits of the renowed New York portrait
artist
John Koch
taken over a 20 year span from 1954-1974. These photographs were
exhibited in Washington for the first time and are only one of two
portfolios of the portraits ever printed by Moser (the other was given
to the Koch widow once the painter died in 1974).
John Koch, Silver Gelatin print by Lida Moser, c.1970
The Fraser Gallery represented Lida's works for many years, and also gave her several solo shows. Read the
WaPo review of one of her DC solo exhibitions at Fraser
here also also the CP's review of another one of her shows
here and lastly the
CP's profile of Moser from a decade ago.
 |
| Lida Moser signing a copy of 100 Artists of Washington, DC in 2011 |
This hurricane of a woman lived a fruitful life and has left a magnificent artistic footprint on the history of American photography. She will be missed, and we are saddened by her departure, but happy to know that Moser's enormous legacy will live forever.
