- Events include exhibit at The National Arts Club, Reissue of Marcel Marceau: Master of Mime, and more
AUSTIN, TX – Jan. 4, 2023
The National Arts Club celebrates the centenary of the birth of Marcel Marceau, the world’s most famous mime, with an exhibition of photographs taken by Time/Life photographer Ben Martin. The Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin is home to the Ben Martin Photographic Archives.
The exhibit will take place at The National Arts Club (15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY) from March 9 to April 28, 2023. The exhibit is timed in conjunction with the publication of a revised edition of Marcel Marceau: Master of Mime, a photojournalist’s view of the legendary artist as performer and friend.
Begun as a Life magazine pictorial in the mid-1970s, the artistic collaboration of Martin and Marceau produced an intense, intimate portrait of the mime whose stage creation—a white-faced clown in bell-bottom pants, sailor’s pullover and crumpled flower opera hat—continued a century-old tradition. In more than 350 photographs, 80 in exquisite color, Martin captures Marceau behind the scenes, rehearsing, applying makeup, and performing. In a series of performance photos, he shows the artist conveying his miraculous emotional range as Bip, his onstage alter ego.
Cumberland Press will publish the revised edition of this intimate photographic portrait with a personal foreword by Anne Sicco, the mime’s widow, and an afterword by Robert Pledge, a close friend and associate of both Marceau and Martin.
The National Arts Club will host a reception for Marceau’s friends and admirers on March 20, 2023, at 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY, 10003. Anne Sicco will be in attendance to represent the Marceau family. The exhibit and reception will be open to the press.
For further information about The National Arts Club, including location and hours, visit https://www.nationalartsclub.org/exhibitions.
Media contact:
Kathryn Leigh Scott
(310) 526 3636
kathrynleighscott@gmail.com
Note: High resolution photos for media use are available upon request.
About the Ben Martin Photographic Archive:
Ben Martin was known for his political photography, his documentation of foreign wars, and his classy portrayals of arts and fashion subjects. He was a senior photographer for Time magazine for 35 years, and his work also appeared in such publications as Life, People, Fortune and Sports Illustrated. The Ben Martin Photographic Archive, approximately 66 linear feet, documents the full breadth of his career. The collection ranges in date from 1949 to 2006 and contains film negatives, captions, contact sheets, slides, positive transparencies, prints, shoot information, correspondence, and other materials relating to Martin’s decades-long career as a Time magazine and freelance photographer. The bulk of the materials represent Martin’s various shoots for Time; materials photographed by Martin for People, Sports Illustrated and Fortune magazines as well as freelance assignments are also included. The collection is open for research.
About the Briscoe Center
As one of the leading historical research centers in the United States, the Briscoe Center’s essential purpose is to collect and preserve primary source material documenting American history for use in teaching and research. The center’s archives, libraries, museums and historical buildings are part of The University of Texas at Austin’s commitment to collecting, preserving and making available the evidence of the past. The center fosters public exploration of history through research services, exhibits, books, public programs and digital humanities projects inspired by archival holdings.
Briscoe Center media contact:
Erin Purdy
512-947-7774
erin.purdy@austin.utexas.edu
