Peter Hill Beard (January 22, 1938 – March 31 / April 19, 2020) was an American artist, photographer, diarist, and writer who lived and worked in New York City, Montauk and Kenya.

[4] A graduate of Pomfret School, he entered Yale University in 1957, with the intention of pursuing pre-med studies, only to switch his major to art history.

[8] During this time, Beard acquired Hog Ranch, a property near the Ngong Hills adjacent to the coffee farm owned by Karen Blixen, which would become his lifelong home-base in East Africa.

These volumes contain newspaper clippings, dried leaves, insects, old sepia-toned photos, transcribed telephone messages, marginalia in India ink, photographs of women, quotes, found objects, and the like; these become incorporated, with original drawings and collage by Beard.

[15] [16][17] Beard befriended and in some cases collaborated with many artists, including Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, Francis Bacon, Karen Blixen, Truman Capote, Richard Lindner, and Salvador Dalí.

[18] On the afternoon of March 31, 2020 Beard, who was suffering from dementia and ill health after a stroke, wandered away from his Montauk, Long Island home.

[19] On April 19, Beard's body was found by a hunter in a densely wooded area in Camp Hero State Park in Montauk Point, New York.