Lisette Model (1901-1983) is regarded as a master of the photographic medium, both for her highly personal style and her work as a teacher. She was interested in depicting all aspects of modern society—the emotion, frustration, tension, anxiety and frantic tempo that shaped urban existence in between the wars. Model’s predilection for an aggressive approach to picture taking rendered the subjects that exaggeratedly fill her picture planes into a myriad of iconic characters. 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. Model’s work is based in social criticism as much as it is rooted in her use of the camera as a tool for understanding life by projecting the creative desires and motivations of the artist.
Lisette Model was born Elise Amelie Felicie Stern in Vienna in 1901, 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, her work was being published and by 1941, she had 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.
The artist has been the subject of worldwide exhibitions and catalogs, 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.
Numerous books have been published about her work. Her first and most important monograph, Lisette Model, was issued in 1979 by Aperture.
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EXHIBITION REVIEW: REWIND: 20TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW
Emily Capone, Musée: Vanguard of Photography Culture, January 10, 2022 -
WE ARE THE SUBJECT: LISETTE MODEL, DIANE ARBUS
Yevgeniya Traps, The Paris Review, September 5, 2018 -
THE PECULIARITY OF AVERAGE PEOPLE IN THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF LISETTE MODEL
Widewalls, July 12, 2018 -
AUDACITY, HUMANITY AND HUMOR: THE WORK OF LISETTE MODEL
Chloe Coleman, The Washington Post, April 25, 2018 -
THE PIONEERING STREET PHOTOGRAPHER WHO TAUGHT DIANE ARBUS
Karen Kedmey, Artsy, January 16, 2018 -
THE WOMAN WHO INFLUENCED DIANE ARBUS'S EYE
Arthur Lubow, the Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2016 -
LISETTE MODEL AT THE DECORDOVA SCULPTURE PARK AND MUSEUM
Mark Feeney, the Boston Globe, April 7, 2016 -
NYU TISCH SCHOOL OF ART: AARON SISKIND & LISETTE MODEL
NYU Tisch, July 31, 2015 -
LISETTE MODEL AT THE WHITNEY: America is Hard to See
The Whitney Museum of American Art, April 25, 2015 -
ANDRÉ KERTÉSZ AND LISETTE MODEL AT THE ISRAEL MUSEUM: Displaced Visions Emigré Photographers of the 20th Century
The Israel Museum, May 13, 2013
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20th Anniversary Exhibition
REWIND 16 Dec 2021 - 19 Feb 2022 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to announce REWIND, a celebration of our 20th anniversary. Featuring works selected from over one hundred exhibitions, REWIND is an opportunity to revisit the gallery's...Read more -
Woman and Photography
The National Arts Club 30 Sep - 25 Oct 2019 Public Exhibitions -
Model, Arbus, Solomon
"We are the Subject" 12 Jul - 8 Sep 2018 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present “We are the subject”, an exhibition featuring the work of Lisette Model, Diane Arbus and Rosalind Fox Solomon. Harnessing the photographic medium, each...Read more -
Songs and the Sky
An Exhibition of Art and Music 28 Apr - 25 Jun 2016 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present Songs and the Sky, an exhibition of art and music.Read more -
Self Reflections
The Expressionist Origins of Lisette Model 22 Sep - 12 Nov 2011 Gallery ExhibitionsBruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present Self Reflections: The Expressionist Origins of Lisette Model. This groundbreaking show coincides with the gallery’s announcement of representation of The Estate of Lisette...Read more
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Paris Photo
8 - 11 Nov 2018Recognized today as one of the most influential figures in modern photography, the Hungarian artist, designer and educator, György Kepes (1906-2001) was one of the...Read more -
Frieze Masters
4 - 7 Oct 2018Featured artists: Diane Arbus, John Baldessari, Constantin Brâncuși, Bill Brandt, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Henri Cartier-Bresson, F. Holland Day, František Drtikol, William Eggleston, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Robert...Read more -
The Photography Show
Presented by AIPAD 5 - 8 Apr 2018Featured Artists: Werner Bischof, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Constantin Brâncuși, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Mark Cohen, Elliot Erwitt, Walker Evans, Mishka Henner, Todd Hido, André Kertész, Dorthea Lange,...Read more -
The Armory Show
2 - 5 Mar 2017Featured Artists: Constantin Brâncuși, Bill Brandt, Eric Fischl, Mishka Henner, Todd Hido, André Kertész, Alfred Leslie, René Magritte, Shinichi Maruyama. Lisette Model. Max Neumann. Cindy...Read more