First-ever exhibition of “Milton H. Greene: Women” in its final week at the AMA

The Arlington Museum of Art has done it again.

Recent AMA exhibitions featuring works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock, to name a few, have delighted visitors from across town and around the country. There’s one particular genre of modern art – photography – in which the AMA has particularly excelled, in terms of recognizing both artistic significance and audience appeal. Since 2015, four AMA shows have either incorporated or exclusively featured contemporary photography including the current show, Milton H. Greene: Women.

The art of the shutter

Photography enhanced the AMA’s Spring 2015 exhibition celebrating the stellar career of Bruce Wood, founder, director and choreographer of the Bruce Wood Dance Company and the Bruce Wood Dance Project in Ft. Worth. Later that year, the Arlington Museum of Art simultaneously presented three, photography-heavy exhibits inspired by the music industry: iconic images originally published in Rolling Stone magazine, rock and roll billboard art from the Sunset Strip, and a retrospective from Austin music-scene photographer Cassandra Weyandt.

In 2016, the AMA raised its own bar by being the first museum in the country to host an exhibition of street photography by Vivian Maier, a posthumously-emerging artist whose images from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s provide poignant glimpses into the lives of ordinary people. Now, less than a year later, we get to experience the same time period through a completely different lens: the images of couture fashion and portrait photographer Milton H. Greene.

Presenting “Milton H. Greene: Women”

Visitors to Milton H. Greene: Women will be the first to see it, in the United States or anywhere.

“The Arlington Museum of Art is the first to have this exhibit,” said Chris Hightower, executive director of the Arlington Museum of Art, “which truly captures the heart of Hollywood, fashion and pop culture in the mid-twentieth century. We’re really excited to bring Milton Greene’s work to Texas!”

Over 100 pieces are included in this comprehensive collection, including vintage photographs, Polaroids, original magazines, contact sheets and modern prints. But just like the days of summer, Milton H. Greene: Women will soon be gone. The exhibition runs through Sunday, August 6.

The life of Milton Greene

Called the “greatest photographer of women” by fellow fashion and portrait photographer Richard Avedon, Milton H. Greene (March 14, 1922 – August 8, 1985) began taking pictures at age fourteen. Thanks to early apprenticeships with famous photojournalist Elliot Elisofen and distinguished fashion photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe, by the age of twenty-three, Greene was referred to as "Color Photography´s Wonder Boy.”

The majority of Milton´s work in the fifties and sixties appeared in publications including Life, Look, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country and Vogue. In fact, Milton Greene and several of his contemporaries are credited for bringing fashion photography into the realm of fine art. But while Greene was initially renowned for his fashion photography, it is his remarkable portraits of artists, musicians, actors and celebrities which have become legendary. His subjects included Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, Sammy Davis, Jr., Elizabeth Taylor, Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Andy Warhol, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, and Dizzy Gillespie, and countless others. He received many honors, including the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Art Director´s Club of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Detroit.

Source: www.archivesmhg.com

More events at the AMA

Art Uncorked: Silk-screen Pop Art

Friday, July 28 from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Enjoy a glass of wine and silk-screen pop art with artist Jonathon Kimbrell.

Café Ole: Open Mic and Starbucks

Saturday, July 29 from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Join us for music, improv and poetry. Presented by Billy Herzig of Zig Productions.

To purchase tickets, visit the current events page on the Arlington Museum of Art website.

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An official State of Texas Cultural District, Downtown Arlington, Texas blends a unique mix of activities, sights, tastes and sounds that attract visitors and locals alike. Within its less than a two-mile radius, Downtown is home to a top tier public research university, prolific fine and performing artists and arts institutions, live entertainment, exciting NCAA and professional athletics, one-of-a-kind dining and retail, and a supportive business climate. Downtown Arlington brings together a plethora of cultures and inspirations with a character all its own.