Monroe Gallery of Photography

Margaret Bourke-White

(American, 1904–1971)

a dc-4 flying over new york city by margaret bourke-white

Margaret Bourke-White

A DC-4 Flying Over New York City, 1939

buchenwald prisoners, 1945 (time inc.) by margaret bourke-white

Margaret Bourke-White

Buchenwald Prisoners, 1945 (Time Inc.)

chrysler building, new york city, 1931 (c. time inc.) by margaret bourke-white

Margaret Bourke-White

Chrysler Building, New York City, 1931 (c. Time Inc.)

gandhi walking with close advisors and family members, india by margaret bourke-white

Margaret Bourke-White

Gandhi walking with close advisors and family members, India, 1946

hats in the garment district, new york by margaret bourke-white

Margaret Bourke-White

Hats in the Garment District, New York, 1930

margaret bourke-white working atop the chrysler building, new york, ny; photographed by her assistant, oscar graubner by margaret bourke-white

Margaret Bourke-White

Margaret Bourke-White working atop the Chrysler Building, New York, NY; photographed by her assistant, Oscar Graubner, 1934

Biography

Timeline

1904
Born: Bronx, New York
1922
Studied Herpetology(the study of reptiles) at Columbia University
1923
Transferred colleges several times, including: University of Michigan, Purdue University, and Case Western Reserve University
1927
Eventually, graduated from Cornell University with her B.A.
1929 - 1935
Worked as associate editor and staff photographer at Fortune magazine
1936 - 1940
Worked as staff photographer at Life magazine
1936
Was hired by Henry Luce as the first female photojournalist for Life magazine
1939 - 1945
Was the first female war correspondent and the first to be allowed to work in combat zones during World War II, and one of the first photographers to enter and document the death camps.
1948
Received Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Rutgers University, Newark, NJ
1951
Received Honorary Doctorate of Arts from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Exhibitions

2011
Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
American Modern: Abbott, Evans, Bourke-White, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX
2010
Weltsichten. Landschaft in der Kunst seit dem 17. Jahrhundert, Situation Kunst (für Max Imdahl), Bochum, Germany
“Fortune of Industry” –a retrospective look at how the photograph has shaped industry featuring select works by Margaret Bourke-White, GALLERY M, Denver, CO
2009
The Malcolmson Collection, Presentation House Gallery , North Vancouver, Canada
Ring of Truth, Miami University Art Museum, Oxford, OH
Au féminin(Women Photographing Women), Centre Culturel Calouste Gulbenkian, Paris, France
After Many Springs: Regionalism, Modernism & the Midwest, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA
Sacred Sight, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, NY
2008
Rethinking the Photographic Image, The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
From the Printed Page: Photographs from the MFAH Collection, Museum of Fine Arts Houston(MFAH), Houston, TX
The Concerned Photographer, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Colleziona - Forma, Centro Internazionale di Fotografia, Milan, Italy
2007
Apocalypse Now: The Theater of War, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA
Icons of American Photography, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Know War, George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, Rochester, NY
2006
Margaret Bourke-White - Galerie Stephen Hoffman, Munich, Germany(solo)
American Icons, Corkin Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Facing Americ. Portraits of the People and the Land, The Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH
2005
Keeping Shadows: Photography from the Worcester Art Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Margaret Bourke-White: Discovered in Cleveland, Contessa Gallery, Cleveland, OH(solo)
Margaret Bourke-White: The Photography of Design, 1927-1936, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA(solo); traveling to: Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, OK and Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
2004
Margaret Bourke-White, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC(solo)
Modern Means: Continuity and Change in Art from 1880 to the Present, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
The Great LIFE Photographers, Contessa Gallery, Cleveland, OH
2003
Working Nine to Five: Vintage Photographs of People at Work, Lee Gallery, Winchester, MA
Histories of Photography, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY

Public Collections

National Gallery of Canada, Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, Ottawa, Canada
National Media Museum, Bradford, U.K
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, NY
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, ME
The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
The Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA

Literature

1998
Callahan, Sean. Margaret Bourke-White: Photographer.Bulfinch: New York
1986
Goldberg, Vicki. Margaret Bourke-White: A Biography
1983
Silverman, Jonathon.The Life of Magaret Bourke-White
1963
Bourke-White, Magaret. The Portrait of Myself. Simon & Schuster: New York