Painted Nudes

Saul Leiter’s prolific career as a photographer spans seventy years. Since the publication of Early Color in 2006, his work has found widespread acclaim, leading to a series of exhibitions throughout Europe and the US, including a 2012 retrospective at Deichtorhallen in Hamburg.

But Leiter was more than a great photographer; he was―and always had been―a prolific painter, though this side of his creative life has received far less attention. One strand among his paintings is noticeable: the art of painting over prints of nudes that he himself photographed and printed. Painted Nudes is the first and only book dedicated to this rich and unique part of Leiter’s oeuvre. It features over eighty color reproductions of Leiter’s painted photographs―intimate, small-scale pieces that merge Leiter’s two foremost artistic passions and showcase his remarkable sense of color and composition.

This long overdue book sheds light on the vitality and originality of Saul Leiter’s art and his mastery of color.