Ernst Haas American, 1921-1986

Overview

Ernst Haas (1921-1986) is acclaimed as one of the most celebrated and influential photographers of the 20th century and considered one of the pioneers of color photography. Haas was born in Vienna in 1921, and took up photography after the war. His early work on Austrian returning prisoners of war brought him to the attention of LIFE magazine. He declined a job offer as staff photographer in order to keep his independence. At the invitation of Robert Capa, Haas joined Magnum in 1949, developing close associations with Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Werner Bishof.

Haas moved to the United States in 1951 and soon after, began experimenting with Kodachrome color film. He went on to become the premier color photographer of the 1950s. In 1953 LIFE magazine published his groundbreaking 24-page color photo essay on New York City. This was the first time such a large color photo feature was published by LIFE. In 1962 a retrospective of his work was the first color photography exhibition held at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Throughout his career, Haas traveled extensively, photographing for LIFE, Vogue, and Look, to name a few of many influential publications. He authored four books during his lifetime: The creation (1971), In America (1975), In Germany (1976), and Himalayan Pilgrimage (1978).

Ernst Haas received the Hasselblad award in 1986, the year of his death. Haas has continued to be the subject of museum exhibitions and publications such as Ernst Haas, Color Photography (1989), Ernst Haas in Black and White (1992), Color correction (2011), and New York in Color, 1952-1962 (2020).

Works

Biography

Solo exhibitions

2022

Ernst Haas, The art of seeing, Westlicht, Vienna.

Ernst Haas, The American West, Les Douches la Galerie, Paris.

2020

Ernst Haas, New York in Color, Les Douches la Galerie, Paris

2019

Ernst Haas, La couleur visionnaire, Les Douches la Galerie, Paris

2016

Ernst Haas, International photography Hall of Fame and Museum, St. Louis, Missouri

2015

Ernst Haas: Color Proof, Les Douches la Galerie, Paris

Ernst Haas: The creation, Photolux, Lucca, Italy

Reconstructing London : Visions of the city afterWorld War I, Atlas Gallery, London

2012

Ernst Haas: Classics, Duncan Miller Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA

Ernst Haas: Color correction. Christopher Guye Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland

2011

The creation. Portland Museum of Art

The creation. Weston Gallery, Carmel, CA

Ernst Haas. Galerie Basia Embirico, Paris

Color correction. Atlas Gallery, London

Ernst Haas: A photographic retrospective : post war Vienna 1945-1948. Museum der Moderne Salzburg

2010

Color correction. Arles photo festival

2009

Force of nature, Danese/Corey Gallery, New York

Ernst Haas: Color correction. New York Photo Festival

2006

Ernst Haas: Hollywood, Farmani Gallery

Ernst Haas: Total vision, Atlas Gallery, London

2002

Ernst Haas, Reflections, Maison Des Arts

Ernst Haas: A re-creation part 1 and part 2, Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York

Ernst Haas Eine welt in trummern- a world ruins, Museum Der Moderne Salzburg Rupetinum

2001

Ernst Haas: Color and black and white, Ann Shanks Photography Gallery, Sheffield, MA

2000

Ernst Haas : New York. Soho Triad Fine Arts, New York

1999

Contour and colour: Ernst Haas. Connoly’s, London

1998

U.K. only time will tell, Michael Hoppen Photography, London

1996

Ernst Haas (1921-1986) Photographien, Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz, Austria

1994

Ernst Haas In black and white. Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Ernst Haas In black and white. Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ

Rediscovery of a new vision, A.O.I. Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

1993

Unpublished black and white images, A.O.I. Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

Ernst Haas In black and white. The Camera Obscura Gallery, Denver, CO

1992

Ernst Haas In black and white. International Center of Photography, Midtown

American photographs 1950-1975. Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

1987

Ernst Haas. Gothenborg, Sweden. Rshsska Konstslsjdmuseet

1986

To see, to be, Rochester Institute of Technology

Ernst Haas Photographs, Larry Kauffman Galleries, Houston

Ernst Haas. Silver Visions Gallery, Newton Upper Falls, MA

1921 Ernst Haas 1986. Museum des 20, Jahrhunderts, Vienna

1985

Ernst Haas. Western States Museum of Photography, Santa Barbara, CA

1984

St. Louis Botanical Garden

1982

Ernst Haas: Heimkehrer (Returning Soldiers). Galerie Fotohof, Salzburg

1980

The creation. Elayne Art Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

1978

The creation and other dyes, Space Gallery, New York

In Deutschland, Photokina, Cologne

1976/1977

Ernst Haas. La Fotogalería, Madrid

1976

Ernst Haas. Space Gallery, New York

Ernst Haas: An american experience, International Center of Photography, and Port Washington Public Library, New York

1975

Ernst Haas: Postwar photographs 1945-1949. Austrian Institute, New York

1973

Ernst Haas: Die schopfung (The creation). Photomuseum im Munchner Stadimuseum, Munich

Ernst Haas: Heimkehrer (Returning Soldiers). Landesgalerie im Schloss Esterhazy, Eisenstadt

Ernst Haas: Die schopfung (The creation). Sterreichisches Museum fär Angewandte Kunst, Vienna

The creation. Kodak Gallery, London

1972

Ernst Haas, ÑNACHKRIEG (After the War). Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts; Kulturhaus, Kulturamt der Stadt Graz, Vienna and Graz

Ernst Haas: Die schopfung (The creation). Photokina, Cologne

1971

The creation. Rizzoli Gallery, New York

Angkor and Bali: Two worlds of Ernst Haas. Asia House Gallery, New York, Under the auspices of The American Federation of Arts traveled to Grand Valley State College, Allingdale, MI; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto; Stephens College, Columbia, MO; University of Manitoba, Canada; Kent Boysõ School, Kent, CT; University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

1965

The art of seeing, An exhibition organized by Kodak that traveled to Mexico, England, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Finland, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Brazil

1964

Ernst Haas/Color photography, Steinberg Hall, Washington University, St. Louis

Poetry in color, The IBM Gallery, New York

1963

Ernst Haas, World of color, One-man show sponsored by Eastman Kodak. Exhibited on five different continents

1962

Ernst Haas: Color photography, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Ernst Haas: Color photography, Sponsored by Manchini Newspaper, Japan

1960

Ernst Haas. Photokina, Cologne

1947

American Red Cross Headquarters, Vienna

Group exhibitions

2017-2018

The Immigrants, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

2017

Lines, shperes, and glyphs: Fontana, Giacomelli, Haas, Kepes, Siskind. Robert Klein Gallery, Boston

2016/2017

Who shot sports: A photographic history, 1843 to the present, Brooklyn Museum, New York

2015

Fatal attraction: Piotr Uklanski selects from the MET collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

New York, Les Douches La Galerie, Paris

2014

Magnum Photos: Contact sheets, Capa Kozpont (Capa Center), Budapest

2013

Flowers and mushrooms, MdM Salzburg, Austria

Suddenness and certainty, Robert Miller Gallery, New York

Color! American photoraphy transformed, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX

2012

New York in color, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

2011

History’s big picture, Monroe Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2010

Photographs from 1950 to 2110. Picto, 60th anniversary

Beyond color: Color in american photography, Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York

2009

Magnum’s first: A re-discovered photo exhibition, Monroe Gallery, New York

2008

Paris in color, Hôtel De Ville

The enchanted garden, Auckland Art Gallery

2007

Easy rider: road trip across America, Yancee Richardson Gallery, New York

First contact: A photographer’s sketchbook, Bruce Silvertein Gallery, New York

Marilyn Monroe: Life as a legend, The Dayton Art Institute

2005

Coney Island, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

2003

Planes, trains and automobiles, Apex Fine Arts

2000

Photographing Maine: 1840-2000. Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, Maine

Photographing Austria, Leica Gallery, New York

Reflections in a glass eye: Works from the International Center of Photography Collection. International Center of Photography, New York

Photographs of New York, Brooke Alexander, New York

Included in the partial recreation of the Family of Man Exhibition. Whitney Museum of Art, New York

1999

Ernst Haas and W. Eugene Smith, Ann Shanks Gallery, Sheffield, MA

1997

Masters in photography: Alfred Eisenstaedt, Ernst Haas, Andre Kertesz, Eugene Smith, Roman Vishniac. Uma Gallery, New York City

1995

Postwar Europe, 1945-1965, ART AFTER THE FLOOD. Barcelona, Spain

Act II: Kissing, G.Ray Hawkins Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1994

Magnum and the cinema, Paris and London

Magic moments, 40 years of Leica photography, USA and Europe

Appeal to this age: The photography of the civil rights ovement, 1954-1968. Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

1988/1989

Master photographs from «Photography in the fine arts» exhibitions, 1959-1967. International Center of Photography, New York

1987

Le temps d’un mouvement: Aventures et mésaventures de l’instant photographique, Palais de Tokyo, Paris

1986

In spite of everything, yes, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College

1985

Photographs from the Magnum archives 1932-1967. Pace/McGill Gallery, New York

New York: The city and its people, Workers’ Cultural Palace, Beijing

1983/1985

Geschichte der fotografie ub Sterreich (The History of Photography in Austria). Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum und Kunstlerhaus, and Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz

1983

Fotografie 83. Stadthalle, Vienna

1982

Color as form: A history of Color photography, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, Rochester, New York

1980/1981

International Center of Photography, New York; University of Arizona, Tucson; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts; The Art Galleries, California State University, Long Beach; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington

1980

Fotografia arte e uso (Photography, Art, and Usage). Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo

Glanzlichter der photographie: 30 jahre photokina biderschauen, (Highlights of Photography: 30 Years of Looking at Pictures). Photokina, Cologne

I sing the body electric, The Squibb Gallery, Princeton

1979

Celebration: New York in color, Fifth Avenue Retailer, New York

Photographie als kunst 1879-1979, Kunst Als Photographie 1949-1979. Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum; Neue Galerie am Wolfgang Gurlitt Museum; Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum; Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts

Venezia ‘79: La Fotografia, Venice

1978

Mirrors and windows: American photography since 1960. The Museum of Modern Art, New York

1977

SICOF ‘77. Sezione Culturale, Comune di Milano, Milan

1976

Photokina: Weltmesse der photographie, Kunsthalle Kslnischer Kunstverein Forum, Cologne

Reflections: Iages of america, Rathaus, Volkshalle, Vienna

1975/1976

Color photography: Inventors and innovators, 1850-1975. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven

1974

Kreative fotografie aus sterreich, Kulturhaus der Stadt Graz im Steirischen Herbst ‘74, Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna

1973

The concerned photographer 2. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Weltaustellung der photographie: Unterwegs zum paradies (Third World Exhibition of Photography: The Path to Paradise). Hamburg, 3

1972/1973

Photography into art: An international exhibition of photography, Camden Arts Center, London

1967

Photography in the 20th century, The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

1966

American photography: The sixties, Lincoln, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska

1965

IPEX. Gallery of Modern Art, New York

1964

Weltausstellung der photographie (World Exhibition of Photography). Kunsthallen und Kulturinstituten, Hamburg

The Photo Essaye, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

1960

The world as seen by Magnum photographers, Organized by Magnum Photos with the cooperation of the Mainichi Newspapers of Japan and circulated throughout the world

The sense of abstraction in contemporary photography, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Photography in the Fine Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1959

Photography at mid-century, George Eastman House, Rochester

Photography in the Fine Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1957/1958

Seventy photographers look at New York, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

1955

Biennale de la photo et du cinéma de Paris, Grand Palais, Paris

1947

American Red Cross Headquarters, Vienna

Press