Boy and his dog by Arnold Newman

Arnold Newman (1918-2006) is acknowledged as one of the great masters of 20th and 21st century portraiture. He is recognized as the “Father of Environmental Portraiture.” His work is in the collections of major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Chicago Art Institute; The Los Angeles Museum of Art; The Philadelphia Museum; The Tate and the National Portrait Gallery, London; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; and many other prominent museums in Europe, Japan, South America, Australia, etc.

Newman was an important contributor to publications including New York, Vanity Fair, LIFE, Look, Holiday, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Town and Country, Scientific American, New York Times Magazine, and others. Numerous books of Newman’s work were published, in addition to countless histories of photography, catalogues, articles, and television programs. He received many major awards by the leading professional organizations in the U.S. and abroad including the American Society of Media Photographers, The International Center of Photography, The Lucie Award, The Royal Photographic Society Centenary Award as well as France’s “Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.” In 2005, Photo District News named Newman as one of the 25 most influential living photographers. In 2006, Newman was awarded The Gold Medal for Photography by The National Arts Club. He is the recipient of nine honorary doctorates; he lectured and conducted workshops around the world.

– Adapted from ArnoldNewman.com

This photograph was taken in the period after Arnold Newman had relocated to New York City from Miami Beach. In New York City, the artist established Arnold Newman Studios and truly launched his career as a freelance photographer.

Boy and his dog, from 1947, shows us an especially tender example of Newman’s idea of “environmental portraiture”, a concept that involved the artist arranging his subject among his or her own most familiar surroundings and possessions.

Examining Arnold Newman’s Environmental Portraits - The New York Times, November, 2018