Animals and Nudes

When Peter Hujar (1934-1987) died at the age of 53, his remarkable oeuvre fell into neglect. Sporadic exhibitions and catalogues failed to give Hujar his critical due, or to make the work widely accessible. Now, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of his first book, Portraits in Life and Death (1976), a concerted effort to exhibit and publish Hujar's work has begun. This book is a prelude to upcoming exhibitions examining Hujar's incomparable portraits of animals and nudes, all of which he though to be self-portraits. A student of Lisette Model, admirer of August Sander, and friend of Diane Arbus, Hujar made his photographs distinctly his own: a perfect and unmistakable mirror of his own body and mileau.