celebrity or movie star is pictured, it will always be
identified first as ‘‘a Newton.’’ A good example of
this autobiographical tendency is that through his
controversial career, he evoked his close scrape
with the Nazis (his mentor Yva died at Auschwitz).
He shot, for instance, a series of portraits of the
most surprising subjects for a Jew who had spent
his life wandering the world, including former Uni-
ted Nations chief Kurt Waldheim, who was linked
to the Nazis, and far right-wing French political
leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. According to his 2003
autobiography, when he photographed Leni Rie-
fenstahl, Hitler’s official documentarian, she made
him promise not to ‘‘call her an old Nazi.’’ But the
ever-exuberant Newton never dwelled on his
past—or his seemingly unbelievable luck. He was
always pushing forward the boundaries of accepta-
ble imagery, and pushing himself ever further in his
art. Productive and highly sought after until the
end of his life, Newton died of injuries from a car
accident at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood,
California in 2004. Shortly before his death, he had
established the Helmut Newton Foundation in a
former Prussian Officers’ club adjacent to the rail-
way station in Berlin where he had fled Nazi per-
secution and donated approximately 1,000 works
to his native city.
MARCLeveretteSeealso:Erotic Photography; Fashion Photogra-
phy; Nude Photography; Portraiture
Biography
Born in Berlin, Germany, 31 October 1920. Attended the
Werner von Trotschke Gymnasium and the American
School in Berlin, but expelled from both. Apprenticed
under the German photographer Else Simon, known as
Yva. Worked as freelance photographer, journalist, and
later fashion and celebrity photographer for numerous
publications (includingPlayboy,Vanity Fair,Harper’s
Bazaar,Vogue, etc.). Became associated with Marlbor-
ough Gallery, New York, and G. Ray Hawkins Gallery,
Los Angeles, early 1980s. Awarded Tokyo Art Direc-
tors’ Club Prize, 1976; American Institute of Graphic
Arts Award forWhite Women, 1977–1978; named Che-
valier des arts et des lettres by the French Minister of
Culture, 1989; Awarded the Grosses Bundesverdienstk-
reuz by the Federal Republic of Germany, and named
Chevalier des Arts, Lettres et Science by S.A.S. Princess
Caroline of Monaco, 1992;LifeLegend Award for life-
time achievement in magazine photography; 1999. Died
in Hollywood, California, 23 January 2004.
Selected Individual Exhibitions
1975 Galerie Nikon; Paris, France
1976 Photographers’ Gallery; London, England
1979 American Center; Paris, France
1980 G. Ray Hawkins Gallery; Los Angeles, California
1982 Galerie Photokina; Cologne, Germany
1982 Studio Marconi; Milan, Italy
1984–1985 Retrospective; Muse ́e d’Art Moderne, Paris,
France
1985 Retrospective; Museo dell’ automobile, Turin, Italy
1985–1986 Galerie Artis; Monte Carlo, Monaco
1986 Retrospective; Foto Foundation, Amsterdam, The
Netherlands and traveling
1988 New Nudes; Hamilton Gallery, London, England
1988 Retrospektive; Berlinische Galerie/Martin-Gropius-Bau,
Berlin, Germany and traveling
1988–1989Portraits Retrospective; National Portrait Gal-
lery, London, England
1988–1989Nouvelles Images; Espace Photographique de
Paris Audiovisuel, Paris, France
1989 New Images: Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy
1989 Fashion Photographs & Portraits; Prefectural Museum
of Art, Fukuoka, Japan
1989 Helmut Newton in Moscow; Puschkin Museum & Per-
waia Galeria, Moscow, Russia
1989 Helmut Newton:Nevas Imagenes’; Fundacio ́n Caja de
Pensiones, Madrid, Spain
1989 Fashion Photographs & Portraits; Seibu Art Museum,
Funbashi Japan and traveling
1989–1990New Images; Carlesberg Glyptonthek Gallery,
Copenhagen, Denmark
1990 Hochschule fu ̈r Graphik und Buchkunst; Leipzig,
Germany
1991 Museum of Modern Art; Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
1992 Naked and Dressed in Hollywood; Pascal de Sarthe
Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1993–1994Helmut Newton. Aus dem photographischen Werk;
Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy and traveling to Fotomu-
seum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland; Josef-Albers-
Museum, Bottrop, Germany; and Deichtorhallen, Ham-
burg, Germany
1996 Helmut Newton—Photography; Navio Museum, Osaka,
Japan
1997 Helmut Newton in Sweden; Hasselblad Foundation at
the Go ̈teburg Museum, Go ̈teburg, SwedenSelected Group Exhibitions
1975 Fashion Photography, Six Decades; Emily Lowe Gal-
lery, New York, New York
1977 The History of Fashion Photography; International Mu-
seum of Photography and Film, George Eastman House,
Rochester, New York
1978 Fashion Photography; Galerie Photokina, Cologne, Germany
1980 Instantane ́s; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1980 20/24 Polaroid; Galerie Zabriskie, Paris, France
1982 50 anne ́es de photographie deVogueParis; Galerie
Photokina, Cologne, Germany, and Muse ́e Jacque-
mart-Andre ́, Paris, France
1985 Shots of Style; Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
England
1988 Splendeurs et mise`res du corps; Muse ́e d’art Moderne,
Paris, France
1989 Ministry of Culture of the Soviet Union; Moscow, Russia
1989 The Art of Photography; Museum of Fine Arts, Hous-
ton, Texas
1991 Appearances; Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
EnglandNEWTON, HELMUT