Monday, May 31, 2021
1960's Figure Study by Rod Crowther
Rod Crowther (George Rodney Richard Crowther, III, born 1927)
Son of the Financial Editor of the Baltimore Sun and press secretary for FDR, Crowther was born in NC and raised in the Baltimore-DC area.
An ad in “Popular Photographer” (Mar 1950) for The School of Modern Photograph in NYC shows a photograph by Crowther with the tag line “by G. Rodney Crowther.” The ad also states that young Crowther planned to specialize in fashion illustration. He then appears in the East Coast physique scene in the 1950s and was, for a time, a roommate of legendary photographer Al Urban. He published a book “Nude Sunbathing by the River” by Rod Crowther Studios, Los Angeles, CA. in 1960 and by the mid sixties, he was providing images to Guild Press in DC – notably a series of nudes in natural settings. His studio nudes were at that time available by mail order, directly from the artist.
Rod died in 2014.