A defining collection of the art of photography.
From the anonymous to the celebrity and from the everyday to era-defining events such as the Great Depression, the Holocaust, and the Civil Rights Movement, the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection captures the full spectrum of the human experience.
The Judy Glickman Lauder Collection—a monumental collection of nearly 700 works of art—is anchored by works from some of the most beloved and influential photographers of the 20th century, including Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Margaret Bourke-White, Danny Lyon, Sally Mann, Gordon Parks, and James Van Der Zee. The collection also includes photographs by critical contributors to the medium’s history, such as Irving Bennett Ellis, Graciela Iturbide, Lotte Jacobi, Alma Lavenson, Ben Shahn, and Glickman Lauder, the collector herself.
“The breadth and quality of this collection is remarkable,” says Mark Bessire, the Judy and Leonard Lauder Director of the Portland Museum of Art. “Judy’s lifelong love of photography and devotion to Maine comes together through this landmark gift, and our region’s future is immediately strengthened through the universal appeal of these artworks.”
Much like Charles Shipman Payson’s gift of seventeen Winslow Homer paintings in the 1980’s made way for campus growth and unification, expanded gallery experiences, and improved community engagement, the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection serves as a keystone for the next great chapter in the museum’s 140-year history.
Judy Glickman Lauder is internationally known as an acclaimed photographer, collector, humanitarian, advocate, philanthropist, and community builder. Her life’s work, whether through her art, her generosity, or her collecting, is defined by a deep appreciation for life and all its intricacies. This fascination with humanity, and the nuances and complexities therein, encompasses all her creative and spiritual endeavors, and has led her across the world in the pursuit of connecting people to one another.
Glickman Lauder has made indelible contributions to the field of photography in Maine and beyond. As a trustee of the Portland Museum of Art, Glickman Lauder’s transformative capacity has been on full display for decades, supporting the museum’s exhibitions, collections, galleries, mission, and more. Over the years, her collection has enabled countless presentations, exhibitions, and unforgettable moments at the museum. Her guidance and wealth of knowledge have supported the PMA’s photographic program and enabled the museum to develop a contemporary and photographic audience.
As an artist, Glickman Lauder’s photographs have been exhibited worldwide and are represented in over 300 public and private collections, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the United States Holocaust Museum. Numerous books of her work have been published, most recently Beyond the Shadows: The Holocaust and the Danish Exception which was published by The Aperture Foundation on the 75th anniversary of the remarkable rescue of the Danish Jews during the Nazi occupation in 1943. The publication features Glickman Lauder’s photographs over a 30-year span documenting concentration camps and portraits of both survivors of the rescue and the brave men and women who risked their own lives to help deliver the Jews in danger east to Sweden.
Judy Glickman Lauder was born in 1938 and raised in Piedmont, California before moving to Los Angeles as a teenager. She later attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where she met and eventually married Albert B. Glickman.
Over the next fifty-four years, the couple developed a national reputation as committed philanthropists, and for Judy, an additional reputation as an advocate and champion for the photographic arts. Her involvement with fellow photographers at the Maine Photographic Workshops was a major turning point in her relationship with photography and the camera and would set her off on a new path exploring the medium’s unique qualities and characteristics. Albert Glickman passed away in 2013, and in 2015 Judy married her family friend and fellow art enthusiast and collector Leonard A. Lauder. Together, they have continued to build on Judy Glickman Lauder’s legacy of humanitarianism through the arts, supporting the Portland Museum of Art as well as a wide variety of arts and cultural organizations, receiving the Gordon Parks Patron of the Arts Award in 2016.
From PMA Magazine
The Judy Glickman Lauder Lecture
Each year, the Portland Museum of Art welcomes leaders, artists, and scholars from the world of photography to the museum at The Judy Glickman Lauder Lecture. One of the PMA’s marquee events, the JGL Lecture provides in-depth insight into the people, perspectives, and culture of photography.
In 2022, the PMA opened Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder, the first exhibition of artworks from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection. Organized by Dr. Anjuli Lebowitz, the inaugural Judy Glickman Lauder Associate Curator of Photography, the exhibition included approximately 150 photographs by 70 artists, and to date has travelled to additional venues including the Grand Rapids Art Museum and the Norton Museum of Art.
Explore Presence through a 360 tour
Bring The Collection Home
Commemorating the PMA’s 2022 exhibition and published by Aperture and edited by Chris Boot, Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder includes approximately 150 illustrations with Glickman Lauder’s reflections on her life in photography. Includes an introduction by Mark Bessire, the Judy and Leonard Lauder Director of the Portland Museum of Art, and essays by Dr. Anjuli Lebowitz, the Judy Glickman Lauder Associate Curator of Photography, and Adam Weinberg, the Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
In The News
Special thank you to Judy Glickman Lauder for her dedication to the Portland Museum of Art and for sharing her incredible collection with our visitors.