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Gordon Parks (United States, 1912-2006), ‘American Gothic, Washington, DC,’ 1942. Gelatin silver print, 13in by 10 1/4in. Promised gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder collection. Image courtesy of Luc Demers. Courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation.

Maine museum receives 600+ works from Judy Glickman Lauder collection

Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Gordon Parks (United States, 1912-2006), ‘American Gothic, Washington, DC,’ 1942. Gelatin silver print, 13in by 10 1/4in. Promised gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder collection. Image courtesy of Luc Demers. Courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation.
Gordon Parks (United States, 1912-2006), ‘American Gothic, Washington, DC,’ 1942. Gelatin silver print, 13in by 10 1/4in. Promised gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder collection. Image courtesy of Luc Demers. Courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation.

PORTLAND, Maine — The Portland Museum of Art (PMA) is proud to announce that Judy Glickman Lauder — photographer, collector, humanitarian, advocate, philanthropist and community builder — has made a monumental gift of more than 600 works of art to the museum through a promised gift, immediately transforming and cementing the PMA as an international destination for photography.

Anchored by works from some of the most beloved and influential photographers of the 20th century, including Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Margaret Bourke-White, Danny Lyon, Sally Mann, Gordon Parks and James Van Der Zee, the collection will become the center of a photographic collection at the Portland Museum of Art that will thrill audiences from around the world. The collection also includes photographs by critical contributors to the medium’s history, such as Irving Bennett Ellis, Graciela Iturbide, Lotte Jacobi, Alma Lavenson, Ben Shahn and Glickman Lauder, the collector herself.

Richard Avedon (United States, 1923-2004), ‘Audrey Hepburn and Art Buchwald, with Simone D'Aillencourt, Frederick Eberstadt, Barbara Mullen, and Dr. Reginald Kernan, evening dresses by Balmain, Dior, and Patou, Maxim's, Paris, August 1959,’ 1959. Gelatin silver print, 19 1⁄2in by 29in. Museum purchase with gift in honor of Judith Glickman Lauder, 2020.7. Photograph by Richard Avedon. © The Richard Avedon Foundation
Richard Avedon (United States, 1923-2004), ‘Audrey Hepburn and Art Buchwald, with Simone D’Aillencourt, Frederick Eberstadt, Barbara Mullen, and Dr. Reginald Kernan, evening dresses by Balmain, Dior, and Patou, Maxim’s, Paris, August 1959,’ 1959. Gelatin silver print, 19 1⁄2in by 29in. Museum purchase with gift in honor of Judith Glickman Lauder, 2020.7. Photograph by Richard Avedon. © The Richard Avedon Foundation

“The breadth and quality of this collection is remarkable,” says Mark Bessire, the Judy and Leonard Lauder Director of the Portland Museum of Art. “Judy’s lifelong love of photography and devotion to Maine comes together through this landmark gift, and our region’s future is immediately strengthened through the universal appeal of these artworks.”

The PMA envisions the collection’s impact to go far beyond the museum’s galleries and walls. Much like Charles Shipman Payson’s gift of 17 Winslow Homer paintings in the 1980s made way for campus growth and unification, expanded gallery experiences and improved community engagement, the Judy Glickman Lauder collection will serve as a keystone for the next great chapter in the museum’s 140-year history.

By creating a home for these works at the museum, Glickman Lauder enriches Maine’s already spectacular artistic legacy and pens an exciting new chapter. In the years to come, this moment will be looked back on as a tipping point for our region, the museum, and photography in Maine.

Irving Bennett Ellis (United States, 1902-1977), ‘Louise Ellis,’ circa 1936. Gelatin silver print, 9in by 7in. Promised gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder collection. Image courtesy of Luc Demers. © Judy Glickman Lauder Collection
Irving Bennett Ellis (United States, 1902-1977), ‘Louise Ellis,’ circa 1936. Gelatin silver print, 9in by 7in. Promised gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder collection. Image courtesy of Luc Demers. © Judy Glickman Lauder Collection

Visitors to the PMA will get their first look into the collection in October 2022 when selections will be on view as part of the major exhibition Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder. The exhibition takes its name from the common thread that unites these works — presence of the photographer, the viewer and the subjects, as well as the photographs themselves. Consisting entirely of works from the Judy Glickman Lauder collection, Presence captures the full spectrum of the human experience, from the anonymous to the celebrity and from the everyday to era-defining events such as the Great Depression, the Holocaust, and the Civil Rights Movement. Through compassion and wonder, Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder immediately stands out as one of the most humanistic and affecting exhibitions of 2022.

Anne Brigman (United States, 1869-1950), ‘The Heart of the Storm,’ 1912. Gelatin silver print, 9 3/4in by 7 3/4in. Promised gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder collection. Image courtesy of Luc Demers.
Anne Brigman (United States, 1869-1950), ‘The Heart of the Storm,’ 1912. Gelatin silver print, 9 3/4in by 7 3/4in. Promised gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder collection. Image courtesy of Luc Demers.

The exhibition will be the first major exhibition curated by Anjuli Lebowitz, PhD, the PMA’s newly named and inaugural Judy Glickman Lauder Associate Curator of Photography. Dr. Lebowitz joined the museum from the Department of Photographs at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where she worked on several exhibitions and catalogs including Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work, 1940-1950 and the upcoming American Silence: The Photographs of Robert Adams. Previously, she was a Jane and Morgan Whitney Fellow in the Department of Photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where she curated Faith and Photography: Auguste Salzmann in the Holy Land. She has organized scholarly panels on the visual culture of caregiving and women-identifying artists in national collections.

Elliot Erwitt (United States, born 1928), ‘New York City,’ 1974. Gelatin silver print, 11 1/2in by 17 1/4in. Promised gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder collection. Image courtesy of Luc Demers. © Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos.
Elliot Erwitt (United States, born 1928), ‘New York City,’ 1974. Gelatin silver print, 11 1/2in by 17 1/4in. Promised gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder collection. Image courtesy of Luc Demers. © Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos.

A companion publication will be produced to commemorate Glickman Lauder’s generosity to the PMA. Published by Aperture and edited by Chris Boot, the book will include about 140 full plate reproductions with an introduction by Mark Bessire, the Judy and Leonard Lauder Director of the Portland Museum of Art, an essay by Dr. Anjuli Lebowitz, the Judy Glickman Lauder Associate Curator of Photography, and reflections from Judy Glickman Lauder on her life in photography.

Visit the website of the Portland Museum of Art (PMA).