NAT FEIN BIOGRAPHY
Nat Fein
Nat Fein was a Manhattan-born photographer who began his career as a copy boy for the New York Herald Tribune in 1932, working his way up to the position of staff photographer by 1939. Fein remained at the Tribune until it folded in 1966, taking what he described as "human interest photographs" of celebrities, animals and New York street scenes. Nat Fein's most well-known picture was taken of Babe Ruth in 1948 on the day that the Yankees retired his uniform, nearly 10 years after Ruth had retired from baseball and 2 months before he died. This photograph, taken of an obviously weakened Ruth from behind, went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1949 and is still regarded as one of the greatest sports pictures ever taken. After his career with the Tribune ended, Fein continued taking photographs on a freelance basis, working on various book assignments and participating in museum exhibitions, including Edward Steichen's 1955 "Family of Man" show at the Museum of Modern Art, until his death in 2000.
Born: New York, NY 1914-2000
Selected Exhibitions:
2006 20/30 Vision: An Anniversary Celebration; Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY
2004 The Subway Series; The Bronx Museum of Art, New York, NY
The Subway Series; The Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY
2003 Capture The Moment: Pulitzer Prize Photographs, North Carolina
State University Galleries, Raleigh, NC
Full Count: Baseball images by Nat Fein; Gallery Two Seventy, Westwood, NJ
2002 Photographs We Know: Iconic Images; Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Dry plate to Digital: The Hallmark Collection; Denver Museum of Art, Denver, CO
2000 One Man's Eye: The Alan Siegel Collection,; Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art,
Cornell University, Ithaca , NY
Boy Wonder, Bergen County Camera Association, NJ
1998 "Flashback: The Fifties", Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NYC
Fifty from the Fifties: Galerie Uterman, Dortmund, Germany
1997 Brooklyn, New York, USA; Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NYC
1996 Summer Saloon III: Pictures We Like, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NYC
1955 Family of Man; Museum of Modern Art, NYC. Edward Steichen, Curator
Collections:
Arnall, Golden & Gregory Collection, Atlanta, GA
Siegel & Gale Collection, NYC
George Eastman House, Museum of Photography, Rochester, NY
Museum of Modern Art, NYC
Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC
National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY
The Hallmark Collection, Kansas City, MO
The Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston TX
Free Library of Philadelphia, PA
Publications:
One Man's Eye: The Alan Siegel Collection; World Wise Press, 2000
LIFE Magazine, "Great Pictures of the Century", October 1999
The Family of Man; Edward Steichen, Museum of Modern Art Press, 1955
Awards:
1949 Pulitzer Prize
1998 NY Yankees Honoree for Lifetime Achievment
Nat Fein was a Manhattan-born photographer who began his career as a copy boy for the New York Herald Tribune in 1932, working his way up to the position of staff photographer by 1939. Fein remained at the Tribune until it folded in 1966, taking what he described as "human interest photographs" of celebrities, animals and New York street scenes. Nat Fein's most well-known picture was taken of Babe Ruth in 1948 on the day that the Yankees retired his uniform, nearly 10 years after Ruth had retired from baseball and 2 months before he died. This photograph, taken of an obviously weakened Ruth from behind, went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1949 and is still regarded as one of the greatest sports pictures ever taken. After his career with the Tribune ended, Fein continued taking photographs on a freelance basis, working on various book assignments and participating in museum exhibitions, including Edward Steichen's 1955 "Family of Man" show at the Museum of Modern Art, until his death in 2000.
Born: New York, NY 1914-2000
Selected Exhibitions:
2006 20/30 Vision: An Anniversary Celebration; Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY
2004 The Subway Series; The Bronx Museum of Art, New York, NY
The Subway Series; The Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY
2003 Capture The Moment: Pulitzer Prize Photographs, North Carolina
State University Galleries, Raleigh, NC
Full Count: Baseball images by Nat Fein; Gallery Two Seventy, Westwood, NJ
2002 Photographs We Know: Iconic Images; Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Dry plate to Digital: The Hallmark Collection; Denver Museum of Art, Denver, CO
2000 One Man's Eye: The Alan Siegel Collection,; Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art,
Cornell University, Ithaca , NY
Boy Wonder, Bergen County Camera Association, NJ
1998 "Flashback: The Fifties", Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NYC
Fifty from the Fifties: Galerie Uterman, Dortmund, Germany
1997 Brooklyn, New York, USA; Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NYC
1996 Summer Saloon III: Pictures We Like, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NYC
1955 Family of Man; Museum of Modern Art, NYC. Edward Steichen, Curator
Collections:
Arnall, Golden & Gregory Collection, Atlanta, GA
Siegel & Gale Collection, NYC
George Eastman House, Museum of Photography, Rochester, NY
Museum of Modern Art, NYC
Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC
National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY
The Hallmark Collection, Kansas City, MO
The Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston TX
Free Library of Philadelphia, PA
Publications:
One Man's Eye: The Alan Siegel Collection; World Wise Press, 2000
LIFE Magazine, "Great Pictures of the Century", October 1999
The Family of Man; Edward Steichen, Museum of Modern Art Press, 1955
Awards:
1949 Pulitzer Prize
1998 NY Yankees Honoree for Lifetime Achievment
