I received this two volume coffee table book set of artist/photographer/illustrator Peter Beard’s work this past Christmas that has been incredibly inspiring and continues to captivate me. Spanning four decades, this tome chronicles his life and artwork in New York City, Montauk and Kenya through 784 pages of collages, photographs and interviews.

Born in 1938, Beard was raised in New York City, Long Island, and Alabama, and studied at Pomfret academy entering Yale University as a pre-med student. He quickly changed his major to art history, and after life-changing trips to Africa in 1955 and 1960, he returned after graduation and settled in Kenya on a property adjacent to Karen Blixen’s.

He began keeping diaries at a young age to chronicle trips, and throughout his lifetime, he has amassed these incredibly beautiful, fascinating accounts of life on two continents. I first found out about him this summer when I was reading I Married Adventure by Martin & Osa.

I don’t think I could ever tire looking through the pages and pages of handwritten diary entries, photo collages, hand drawn illustrations, clippings from the media, and photographs from Africa’s wild. Every time you look, you see something new.

Left to Right: A collage from 30 years in Montauk, NY. Beard working in his studio {for sale as of 2009}, on the lawn at Andy Warhol’s with Mick Jagger, Catherine Deneuve and Andy.

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Fore more, visit Peter Beard’s website. All images via Peter Beard 2008, Taschen

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