Peter Beard
Reckless, uninhibited and brazen, photographer Peter Beard was, as The Washington Post put it, “as wild as the animals he photographed.” Beard produced some of the most beautiful images of wildlife ever captured on film.
Beard was born in 1938 in New York City. His great-grandfather was James J. Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railway. As a child, he spent his summers at his grandmother’s Tuxedo Park estate, where she gave him his first camera, a Voightländer. He used it to take pictures to accompany his diaries; Beard was a keen diarist throughout his life, amassing more than 100 volumes. At the age of 17, he took a life-changing trip to Africa with Quentin Keynes, Charles Darwin’s great-grandson, using his Voightländer to photograph wildlife.
After attending prestigious private schools such as Buckley and Pomfret, Beard entered Yale University in 1957 as a pre-med student. However, he soon turned his attention toward art, studying under architectural historian Vincent Scully, German artist Josef Albers and painter Richard Lindner. He graduated in 1961 with a degree in art history.
In the 1960s, Beard returned to Africa, where he met Out of Africa author Karen Blixen. Enamored by the continent’s natural beauty, he purchased Hog Ranch near Blixen’s coffee plantation in Kenya. While there, he received a special dispensation from President Uhuru Kenyatta to film, photograph and document the flora and wildlife at Tsavo National Park. This led to The End of the Game, published in 1965, which documented the demise of more than 35,000 starving elephants and 5,000 black rhinos.
Beard became renowned for his black-and-white and color photography, figurative photos and landscapes. He exhibited around the world, including at New York’s Blum Helman Gallery in 1975, the International Center of Photography in Manhattan in 1977, the Centre National de la Photographie in Paris in 1996 and Guild Hall in East Hampton in 2016.
Beard died in 2020 at the age of 82. His works remain in demand with collectors.
On 1stDibs, find original Peter Beard photography, mixed media work and prints.
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Peter Beard
Ceramic
1960s American Vintage Peter Beard
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21st Century and Contemporary Peter Beard
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Early 2000s Peter Beard
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1960s European Folk Art Vintage Peter Beard
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Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Peter Beard
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Mid-20th Century Italian Hollywood Regency Peter Beard
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1960s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Peter Beard
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Mid-20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Peter Beard
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Early 2000s British Mid-Century Modern Peter Beard
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Mid-20th Century American Modern Peter Beard
Ceramic, Pottery
2010s American Post-Modern Peter Beard
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20th Century American Modern Peter Beard
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Peter Beard
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20th Century Peter Beard
Ceramic, Glass
Early 2000s Peter Beard
Linen, Paper
Late 20th Century English Peter Beard
Pottery
21st Century and Contemporary British Peter Beard
Ceramic
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- What is Peter Beard known for?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Peter Beard was known for his work as a photographer. Over the course of his career, he captured numerous photographs of endangered African animals that appeared in major publications. He died in the spring of 2020. Shop a collection of Peter Beard art on 1stDibs.