Marvin E. Newman. Photographs 1949-1983

In 1952, after becoming one of the first-ever recipients of a Master of Science degree in Photography at Chicago’s Institute of Design, native New Yorker Marvin E. Newman returned to his hometown. Like many artists before, he set about chronicling the city. Unlike his predecessors, Newman chose color photography as the preeminent medium for capturing the people and energy of New York, and its emergence in the 1950s as the self-proclaimed “Greatest City in the World.”

Lauded by the likes of Eastman House, MoMA, and the International Center of Photography, Newman’s images remained, up until now, largely undiscovered beyond a prestigious collector and gallery circle. After featuring Newman in New York: Portrait of a City, TASCHEN now presents the artist’s first career monograph including some 170 pictures from the late 1940s through the early 1980s, previously available in a Collector’s Edition. Newman passed away in 2023 at the age of 95.

From Times Square to Wall Street, from Broadway to Little Italy, Newman’s vivid, original tableaux offer fresh perspectives on familiar New York landmarks but, above all, a unique sense for life in the city and for the drama and extremities that weld New York to so many hearts. Beyond New York, Newman applies the same flawless technique and humanist sensibility to other locations across the United States including Chicago, Kansas, a vintage 1950s circus; a legalized brothel in Reno, Nevada; Las Vegas; Alaska; and groovy 1960s California; as well as top shots from his sports photography portfolio featuring icons such as Cassius Clay and Pele´.

Newman, who is represented by the prestigious Howard Greenberg Gallery, was long overdue a monograph. With an essay by critic and scholar Lyle Rexer, this first chronological retrospective offers due recognition to an outstanding talent, providing memorable images that leave their mark on the eye and the soul.