Nickolas Muray

American photographer, born in Hungary, 1892–1965

BiographyNickolas Muray was a Hungarian-born American photographer. Raised in Hungary, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1913, when he was 21. He soon found work at a printing company. In 1920 he opened his photography studio and quickly found success with his softly focused portraits of celebrities for popular magazines. Living in Greenwich Village, he entertained actors, politicians, artists, and writers and befriended caricaturist Miguel Covarrubias. On a visit to Mexico with Covarrubias, Muray met Frida Kahlo, who he photographed hundreds of times and with whom he had a decade-long relationship. In the 1930s, Muray moved into commercial photography and became one of the leading color photographers, working for Ladies' Home Journal, Time, and other mass-market magazines and their advertisers.

Throughout his life, Muray practiced fencing, competing in the Olympics in 1928 and 1932, and becoming U.S. Saber Champion in 1928 and 1929.

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