John Brook

John Brook (1924-2016) was a Boston photographer who gained national recognition in the mid-20th century.

John Brook
John Brook, self-portrait
Born1924
Woonsocket, Rhode Island, U.S.
DiedJuly 29, 2016 (aged 92)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationHarvard University
Known forPhotography

Early life and education

He was born to English immigrant parents in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, in 1924. He taught himself photography as a child, and won first prize in a national competition at the age of 12. He attended Harvard University, graduating in 1947.[1]

Career

After college he opened a studio on Newbury Street in Boston. He rose to prominence as a portraitist in the 1950s, photographing celebrities such as composer Igor Stravinsky, jazz musicians Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, and Thelonious Monk, prima ballerina Maria Tallchief, and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. On the strength of this work he became the staff photographer for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.[1][2]

Brook's photographs were published widely in magazines such as Time, Vogue, Popular Photography,[1] and ARTnews.[3] In 1959 he was featured in the New Talent issue of Art in America.[4] In 1966 he was one of 20 photographers whose work was featured in Life magazine's 30th Anniversary Photography Special Issue; others included Richard Avedon, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Robert Doisneau.[1][5] He exhibited at venues around the world, including the biennial photography festival in Milan, where he won a gold medal in 1960; a solo exhibition at the George Eastman Museum in 1961;[6] the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair; Expo 67 in Montreal; and the 1970 World's Fair in Osaka.[1]

Boston artist Steven Trefonides cited Brook as a formative influence.[7]

Later life and legacy

An accident in the 1990s left him disabled, forcing him to give up photography. He died on July 29, 2016, in a Boston-area nursing home.[1]

The Boston Public Library owns a large number of his prints. His work is also included in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[8] the Art Institute of Chicago,[9] the Museum of Modern Art,[10] the Boston Museum of Fine Arts,[11] the Danforth Museum,[12] and many other museums and private collectors.

His photographs can also be found in two published volumes: A Long the River Run (Scrimshaw Press, 1970) and Hold Me (Aura Publications, 1977).[1]

References
  1. Adams, Thomas (August 16, 2016). "A brilliant Boston commercial and fine arts photographer has passed away at 92". PhotoWeenie. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  2. Image, Volumes 10-12. George Eastman House. 1961.
  3. "1947 Photo in ARTnews". ARTnews. 46 (10). December 1947. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  4. Pan American Painting. Vision. 1959. p. 121.
  5. "LIFE Magazine December 23, 1966: 30th Anniversary Photography Special Issue". Original Life Magazines. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  6. Gibran, Jean (2014). Love Made Visible: Scenes from a Mostly Happy Marriage. Interlink Publishing. pp. 144, 216. ISBN 9781623710521.
  7. Taylor, Robert (June 18, 1986). "Trefonides: An Artist in Many Media". The Boston Globe.
  8. "The Kiss". The Met. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  9. "Brook, John". Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  10. "John Brook". MoMA. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  11. "Untitled (Birch Branches)". MFA.org.
  12. "Found in Collection: Contemporary Photography from the Danforth Art Museum Permanent Collection". Danforth Art. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
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