One film series to look forward can be found in September at the Pollock-Krasner House & Study Center. Held every Friday throughout September, the films are screened at 7 p.m. and are bookended by an introduction before and discussion afterward led by Marion Wolberg Weiss. This year, films were selected to connect with the current exhibition "Elaine de Kooning Portrayed".
"Art history has its share of famous portraits, from Leonardo's Mona Lisa to Warhol's Marilyn," writes the Pollock-Krasner House. "Our film series has also become a canvas for portraiture, from first-person narratives to fictional stories in which portraits are metaphors. Each movie probes beneath superficial appearances."
Admission is free and no reservations are required.
Continue scrolling for the film line-up.
September 4, 2015
Gerald McCarthy, "E de K: A Portrait," 1983 (28 min.),
Max Scott, "An Elaine de Kooning Tribute," 1989 (27 min.), and Rudolph Burckhardt, "Dogwood Maiden," 1949 (21 min., silent)
McCarthy's documentary shows Elaine discussing her themes and preoccupations as a painter, and observes her at work. This colorful portrait shows that trust in herself and years of discipline truly made her "the fastest brush in the East(and West, too)."
Scott's memorial tribute, made shortly after Elaine's death, is a compilation of footage from the LTV archives, including excerpts from her "Artists Speak" lecture, her tour of the 1983 Willem de Kooning retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum, and a conversation with Elaine Benson.
In Rudy Burckhardt's comic fantasy, elopements, car breakdowns and magic take place in the enchanted forests of Wading River, Long Island. Elaine stars as the Sorceress, with Frank Safford as the Magician. Also featuring Joe Hazan, Michael Kidd, and Burckhardt. This is the film's first screening in many years and is courtesy of Jacob Burckhardt.
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Still from Gerald McCarthy, "E de K: A Portrait," 1983 (28 min.).
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September 11, 2015
Albert Lewin, "The Picture of Dorian Gray," 1945 (110 min.)
In this classic Oscar Wilde tale, a corrupt young man (Hurd Hatfield) remains youthful and handsome in spite of his depravity, while his portrait gradually reveals his inner ugliness. Henrique Medina painted the innocent Dorian portrait; the decadent portrait is by Ivan Le Lorraine Albright. The film is visually striking and with its notion of the artist as vampire, highlights Wilde's Romanticism.
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Still from Albert Lewin, "The Picture of Dorian Gray," 1945 (110 min.)
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September 18, 2015
Shirley Clarke, "Portrait of Jason," 1967 (105 min.)
Director Clarke's extraordinary interview with Jason Holliday (aka Aaron Payne), a house boy, would-be cabaret performer and self-proclaimed hustler, documents one man's gin-soaked, drug-fueled view of what it was like to be black and gay in 1960s America. This rarely-seen experimental work questions the very definition of a documentary and raises the question whether the film is actually non-fiction.
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Still from Shirley Clarke, "Portrait of Jason," 1967 (105 min.)
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September 25, 2015
Alfred Hitchcock, "Vertigo," 1958 (128 min.)
This Hitchcock thriller is a complex tale of multiple identities, in which a woman's obsession with a portrait may have led to her suicide. The acrophobic detective (James Stewart) hired to investigate her strange behavior falls in love with a woman who resembles her (Kim Novak), not realizing that they are the same person. The literal use of a portrait reinforces Hitchcock's recurring themes of "the double" and voyeurism.
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Alfred Hitchcock, "Vertigo," 1958 (128 min.)
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BASIC FACTS: "Artists on Film: Face to Face" takes place on Fridays in September 2015 at 7 p.m. The Pollock-Krasner House is located at 830 Springs-Fireplace Road, East Hampton, NY 11937. www.sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/pkhouse. pollock-krasner-house-and-study-center
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