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Fifty-six dramatic 1956 photographs of Elvis Presley on the brink of international superstardom - including intimate images taken in Richmond - will be shown in Elvis at 21 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
The black-and-white photographs taken by Alfred Wertheimer show a baby-faced Elvis just as his career began but before he was a recognizable rock-and-roll icon.
"You'll see some extraordinary behind-the-scenes shots of Elvis just as his career was starting," VMFA Director Alex Nyerges said. "The exhibition includes images taken here in June of 1956 of Elvis leaving Richmond's train station, riding in a taxi, having breakfast at the Jefferson Hotel, eating - unrecognized - at the hotel's lunch counter, waiting backstage and performing on-stage during two shows at the Mosque, stealing a steamy kiss in a Mosque hallway."
Elvis at 21 is the first national traveling show of Wertheimer's photographs, which have been described as the stuff of music legend. Master printer David Adamson produced new pigment prints for the exhibition. Developed collaboratively by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), Govinda Gallery, and the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the exhibition is made possible through the support of HISTORY™.
Wertheimer was hired by RCA Victor in 1956 to shoot promotional images of Elvis, who had just been signed to record for the label. Wertheimer's images provide viewers today with a look at Elvis before he exploded onto the rock-and-roll scene.
Wertheimer was given total access to Elvis on the road, backstage, in concert, in the recording studio and at home in Memphis. Shortly after Wertheimer had completed his assignment, "Colonel" Tom Parker, Elvis's manager, restricted contact with his star.
"Henri Cartier-Bresson was known for photographing what he called the 'decisive moment,' that moment when everything falls into place," says Wertheimer. "But I was more interested in the moments before or after the decisive moment."
In a recent Vanity Fair article about the exhibition, Wertheimer told Bob Colacello the details behind the steamy-kiss photograph taken at Richmond's Mosque.
Wertheimer said he lost track of Elvis backstage at one point. He then spotted him at the end of a hallway standing with a girl he had met on the train from New York. The two were in silhouette under a 50-watt bulb. Wertheimer began shooting, moving closer to the couple all the while.
"I'm on the landing,” Wertheimer said, “and she finally gets around to saying, 'And I bet you can't kiss me, Elvis.' And she sticks out her tongue, and he says, 'I bet you I can' … And he finally consummates the kiss. While all of this was going on, the other acts were onstage, and I started hearing, 'We want Elvis! We want Elvis!' So he comes out from that back area, and he's waiting in the wings to go onstage."
Wertheimer says the shot of Elvis and the young woman kissing has been described to him as "the hottest kiss ever recorded.” The young woman in the picture was recently identified as Barbara Gray, of Charleston, S.C.
On the day following the Richmond performances, Wertheimer followed Elvis back to New York City to document the recording sessions for "Don't Be Cruel" and its flip side, "Hound Dog." Both songs hit No. 1 on the charts, the only time a single record has achieved this distinction.
Wertheimer was also with Elvis after the recording session as he traveled home to Memphis by train. One image shows Elvis among a crowd surrounding a lunch vendor on a train platform during a brief stop on the 27-hour trip. The anonymity he enjoyed during this stop was short-lived. Wertheimer's photographs of Elvis's return to Memphis show a young man who now had to have a police escort to get through the crowd of fans.
Programs
The “Mystery Woman,” Barbara Gray, will celebrate Elvis’s birthday on January 8, 2012 at VMFA with a birthday cake and book signing from 1 – 3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Elvis ’56: Panel Conversation and Book Signing
Fri., January 20. 5:30 – 9 p.m.
The documentary Elvis `56 (1987, 61 min) will be shown before a panel conversation with legendary Elvis at 21 photographer Alfred Wertheimer, the Smithsonian Institution’s S. Marquette Folley, Big Oldies 107.3 Radio Personality Tony Booth, and classic rock and roll singer/songwriter Ron Moody. Wertheimer will sign editions of the exhibition catalog. $8 ($5 VMFA members).
About the exhibition
• TITLE: Elvis at 21
• DATES: December 24, 2011 - March 18, 2012
• ORGANIZER: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), Govinda Gallery, and the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery
• NATIONAL TOUR SPONSOR: HISTORY™
• VMFA CURATOR: Robin Nicholson, VMFA deputy director for exhibitions
• ITINERARY: The Grammy Museum, Los Angeles (Jan. 8, 2010-March 28, 2010); Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, Fla. (April 20, 2010-June 20, 2010); Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester, Va. (July 10, 2010-Oct. 10, 2010); National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. (Oct. 30, 2010-Jan. 23, 2011); James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pa. (Feb. 19, 2011-May 15, 2011); William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, Little Rock, Ark. (June 4, 2011-Aug. 21, 2011); Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Ala. (Sept. 10, 2011-Dec. 4, 2011); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (see above).
• ADMISSION: $8 (students with ID, seniors over 65 and children age 7-17, $5; children 6 and under, free)
• COMPANION PUBLICATION: Elvis 1956 with photographs by Alfred Wertheimer, an introduction by Chris Murray and essays by E. Warren Perry, Jr. and Amy Henderson. $29.95
• ELVIS-THEMED DINING AND SHOPPING: Best Café will feature private-label Elvis Presley chardonnay with Wertheimer photos on the label and will serve a contemporary take on one of Elvis’s favorite sandwiches, a peanut butter and banana Panini, on the weekends. Amuse will offer special Elvis-inspired cocktails. The VMFA Shop will feature a wide variety of book and Elvis-related souvenirs, including signature sunglasses, flipbooks, playing cards, Christmas ornaments and hound dog toys.
About Alfred Wertheimer
Soon after graduating from Cooper Union’s school of art in 1951, Alfred Wertheimer began his career as a photojournalist, publishing his work in such popular magazines as Life, Paris Match, Look, and Colliers. When RCA Victor asked him to photograph the label’s newest recording artist in 1956, Wertheimer turned the publicity assignment into a unique opportunity to document Elvis Presley. With the sensibility of a reporter and the imagination of a visual artist, Wertheimer observed his subject and environment as no other photographer had done before or after. He photographed Elvis again in 1958 after Elvis was drafted into the U.S. Army. Wertheimer’s photographs are in the permanent collections of the Experience Music Project (Seattle, Wash.) and the Folkwang Museum (Essen, Germany).
Other subjects captured by his lens include Eleanor Roosevelt, Nina Simone, Dion and the Belmonts, Annette Funichello, Paul Anka, Rip Torn, Daddy Grace, Elizabeth Taylor, Leonard Bernstein, Rabbi Schneerson and the Hassidic Jews of Brooklyn, and the Regis DeBray trial. Moving on from the still image, Wertheimer became a documentary cinematographer working as one of the principle cameramen on the original film Woodstock. He also covered the 1960 presidential campaigns of John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.
About the Smithsonian
SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for almost 60 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. For exhibition description and tour schedules, visit www.sites.si.edu.
About Govinda Gallery
Located in Washington, D.C., the Govinda Gallery has organized over the past 30 years more than 200 exhibitions of many of the nation’s leading artists. It has featured Wertheimer’s work in several exhibitions, including his first major one-person exhibition in 1997. Visit online at www.govindagallery.com.
About HISTORY ™
HISTORY™ is a leading destination for revealing, award-winning, original non-fiction series and event-driven specials that connect history with viewers. Programming covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science, archaeology and pop culture.
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About the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
With a collection of art that spans the globe and more than 5,000 years, plus a wide array of special exhibitions, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is recognized as one of the top comprehensive art museums in the United States. The museum’s permanent collection encompasses more than 23,000 works of art, including the largest public collection of Fabergé outside Russia and one of the nation’s finest collections of American Art, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. VMFA is home to acclaimed collections of English Silver and Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, British Sporting and Modern & Contemporary art, as well as renowned South Asian, Himalayan and African art. In May 2010, VMFA opened its doors to the public after a transformative expansion, the largest in its 75-year history. Programs include educational activities and studio classes for all ages, plus fun after-hours events. VMFA’s Statewide Partnership program includes traveling exhibitions, artist and teacher workshops, and lectures across the Commonwealth. VMFA is open 365 days a year and general admission is always free. For additional information, telephone 804-340-1400 or visit www.vmfa.museum.