“The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery joins the estimated 3,000 celebrations in honoring Leonard Bernstein by displaying a portrait of the renowned conductor in rehearsal at Carnegie Hall,” writes Marissa Vonesh in Tuesday’s (8/21) Smithsonian magazine. “Taken in 1960 by the influential French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson … Bernstein conducts with arms whirring as if in flight—a style all his own. ‘I am most intrigued by the access that Cartier-Bresson offers us, in this behind-the-scenes moment, away from the audience’s discerning eyes,’ says Leslie Ureña, associate curator of photographs at the Portrait Gallery…. By 1960 Bernstein had … composed a ballet, five musicals, two operas, two major symphonies and various other orchestral, choral and theatre pieces…. He developed educational programming for adults and children…. He had been appointed musical director of the New York Philharmonic. Ultimately, he had become the face of classical music all in under 20 years after his debut…. Leonard Bernstein’s portrait by Henri Cartier-Bresson is on display … through September 23. ‘Leonard Bernstein: The Power of Music,’ at Philadelphia’s National Museum of American Jewish History, a Smithsonian affiliate, closes September 2.”
Posted August 22, 2018
