Milton Greene

Artist Biography

Born in New York in 1922, Milton Greene began taking pictures at the early age of 14. Although he was the recipient of a scholarship to the renowned Pratt Institute, a heightened awareness of the photographic image diverted his attention to the camera and its versatility. He soon apprenticed himself to the famous photojournalist and wizard of composition, Elliot Elisofen. Before long, his keen regard for fashion and the camera found him assisting Louise Dahl-Wolfe, the distinguished fashion photographer known for her unique covers and fashion pages for Harper's Bazaar. At the age of twenty-three, Milton was referred to as "Color Photography's Wonder Boy'.

The majority of Milton's work in the fifties and sixties appeared in major national publications including Life, Look, Harper's Bazaar, Town and Country and Vogue. In fact, Milton Greene, along with other eminent photographers such as Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Irving Penn, and Norman Parkinson, is credited for bringing fashion photography into the realm of fine art, prints and posters. Although Greene was initially renowned for his high-fashion photography, it is his remarkable portraits of our most beloved artists, musicians, film, and television and theatrical celebrities, which have become legendary. It was Milton's ability as a director that enabled him to capture the qualities that best personified the real person, making each of his pictures an eloquent, unique statement as he converted his remarkable vision into compelling photographic art. His unique friendship, business relationship and ensuing photographs of Marilyn Monroe are what he is most remembered for.

His photography won him many national and international honors, medals and awards; among them the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Art Director's Club of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Detroit. One of his last awards was from the Art Director's Club of New York for his work in Harper's Bazaar. In recent years, Milton Greene's photographs, art prints and posters have been exhibited in major museums and galleries throughout the world, as well as represented in many private collections. Milton H. Greene's work will continue to be regarded as representative of an era in time, which may be gone, but will always be reflected in pictures.

Milton Greene Art, Prints and Posters Collection