Peter Beard facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Peter Beard
Born	Peter Hill Beard (1938-01-22)January 22, 1938 New York, United States
Disappeared	March 31, 2020 Montauk, New York, U.S.
Died	c. March 31/April 19, 2020 (aged 82) Montauk Point, New York, U.S.
Body discovered	Camp Hero State Park
Education	Pomfret School
Alma mater	Yale University (BA)
Occupation	Artist
Spouse(s)	Minnie Cushing Beard Coleman ​ ​ (m. 1967; div. 1970)​ Cheryl Tiegs ​ ​ (m. 1981; div. 1984)​ Nejma Khanum ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	1

Peter Hill Beard (born January 22, 1938 – died around March/April 2020) was an American artist. He was also a photographer, a diarist (someone who keeps a journal), and a writer. Peter Beard lived and worked in New York City, Montauk, and Kenya. He became famous for his photos of Africa and its amazing animals. He also kept detailed journals that often included his pictures. His work has been shown and published widely since the 1960s.

Early Life and Education

Peter Beard was born in 1938 in New York. His father, Anson McCook Beard Jr., came from a family that had made a lot of money from railroads. Peter grew up in New York City, Alabama, and Islip, Long Island.

He started keeping diaries when he was a young boy. By age 12, he began taking photographs to add to his journals. After graduating from Pomfret School, he went to Yale University in 1957. He first planned to study medicine, but he soon changed his mind. He decided to major in art history instead.

At Yale, Peter Beard had several important teachers who helped him. These included Josef Albers, Richard Lindner, and Vincent Scully. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1961.

After college, Beard traveled to Kenya. He had visited Africa before in 1955 and 1960, and he felt very inspired by it. In Kenya, he worked at Tsavo National Park. There, he took photos and wrote about the sad loss of 35,000 elephants and other wildlife. This work later became his first book, called The End of the Game.

During this time, Peter Beard bought a place called Hog Ranch. It was near the Ngong Hills and close to a coffee farm owned by writer Karen Blixen. Hog Ranch became his main home in East Africa for the rest of his life.

His Art and Photography

Peter Beard's photographs of Africa and its animals, along with his unique journals, have been shown and published a lot since the 1970s. Each piece of his art is special. It combines his photos with things from his daily diaries. He continued this diary-keeping habit until he passed away in 2020.

These journals were filled with many different items. They included newspaper clippings, dried leaves, insects, old sepia-toned photos, and phone messages. He also added notes in India ink, pictures of women, quotes, and found objects. All these things were mixed with his own drawings and collages. Sometimes, he even used animal blood as a painting material.

The Peter Beard Studio and Archive was created by Peter and Nejma Beard. It is the main place to find his artwork. The Archive keeps a collection of his published and unpublished writings and pictures. It also holds information about his life, projects, travels, art shows, and his friends.

Peter Beard's first art show was in New York City in 1975. Big museum shows of his work were held at the International Center of Photography in New York City in 1977. Another important show was at the Centre national de la photographie in Paris in 1997. He also had gallery shows in many other cities around the world. These included Berlin, London, Toronto, Madrid, Milan, Tokyo, and Vienna. Peter Beard's art is now part of private collections all over the world.

Personal Life

Peter Beard came from important American families on both his mother's and father's sides. He was one of three sons. His great-grandfather, James J. Hill, started the Great Northern Railway in the United States in the late 1800s. James J. Hill used his railroad money to become a big supporter of the arts. Because of this, all of his family members grew up around great art collections. This likely had a strong impact on Peter Beard's own interest in art and beauty.

Beard married his first wife, Mary "Minnie" Olivia Cochran Cushing, in 1967. Their marriage was short. His second wife was Cheryl Tiegs, a famous fashion model. They were married from 1982 to 1986.

In 1986, he married Nejma Khanum. They had a daughter named Zara, who was born in 1988. Peter Beard wrote a book for her called Zara's Tales.

In 1996, Peter Beard was badly hurt by an elephant, but he survived.

He became friends with many other artists and sometimes worked with them. These included Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, Francis Bacon, Karen Blixen, Truman Capote, Richard Lindner, and Salvador Dalí. He also took photos of many other well-known people. In 1963, he appeared in a film called Hallulujah the Hills. This film was shown at the very first New York Film Festival.

Later Life and Passing

On March 31, 2020, Peter Beard wandered away from his home in Montauk, Long Island. He had been suffering from dementia and poor health after having a stroke. Despite many searches, he was not found right away.

On April 19, Peter Beard's body was discovered by a hunter. It was found in a thick wooded area within Camp Hero State Park in Montauk Point, New York.

Filmography

Images for kids

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  Peter Beard

See also

In Spanish: Peter Beard para niños