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Judy Glickman Lauder’s Vast Trove of Photography Is a Portrait of Its Collector

In conversation with Observer, the widow of billionaire Leonard Lauder reflects on her family legacy, her penchant for 20th-century images and the exhibition of works from her collection now touring the U.S.

A child of a photo enthusiast, Judy Glickman Lauder—the widow of billionaire art collector Leonard Lauder—has collected photographs since the 1970s. An exhibition of part of her collection is now touring the U.S., featuring some 100 prints by 50 artists, having kicked off this summer at the Southampton Arts Center in New York. Divided into eight thematic sections and curated by Anjuli Lebowitz, the selection includes work by eminent practitioners like Nan Goldin, Graciela Iturbide, Danny Lyon, Susan Meiselas, Gordon Parks and James Van Der Zee.

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Spanning quotidian moments to historic pinnacles, “Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder” examines different facets of human vulnerability. The title of the exhibition is in reference to theorist Roland Barthes’ pronouncement: “Every photograph is a certificate of presence.” The exhibition will migrate to the Sarasota Art Museum in Florida in 2026-2027, the Gibbes Museum of Art in South Carolina in 2027 and the Lowe Art Museum in Florida in 2027-2028.

"Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder" Artists: Various Venue: Southampton Arts Center Address: 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton, New York Through: September 27, 2026

Down the line, Lauder will donate her entire collection to the Portland Museum of Art in Maine. This includes some of her own work, for which Lauder traveled to Europe to document sites related to the Holocaust as a chilling record of an unthinkable period. We spoke to the collector, photographer and philanthropist about her family legacy—both she and her dad belonged to the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain—plus her penchant for 20th-century images and her work with infrared film.

Tell me about your trajectory within the world of photography. You very much grew up around the medium.

My father was a doctor, but his passion was photography. I was the subject in front of my dad’s big Graflex........

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