The bright sunshine and splashing colors of SouThern California served as an excellent backdrop for filming "Stanton Macdonald-Wright: Color, Myth and Music." After the success of "Rodin: A Man of Passion," UNC-TV eagerly accepted an offer to partner with The NC Museum of Art to produce a similar program on The Museum's special exhibition of The work of Stanton Macdonald-Wright, an obscure artist whose genius had been neglected by The art world for years.
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| George Sturmann |
The quest for an intimate portrait of Macdonald-Wright took UNC-TV producer and director Scott Davis and videographer George Sturmann to California, where The artist spent most of his life creating, teaching, and showing his works. Davis, whose origins are from California as well, found it interesting that his first encounter with The work of this brilliant man was in North Carolina. For Rebecca Moore, The Museum's director of marketing and communications, The trip marked her first producing assignment as co-producer.
Along with Will South, co-curator and author of The exhibition catalogue, Davis, Moore and Sturmann flew to The West Coast for a four-day adventure. Traveling from Chinatown to Palm Springs, The crew met Alan and Fannie Leslie, The couple who originally alerted The NC Museum to Macdonald-Wright's works and initiated The exhibit. In Los Angeles, The producers also interviewed Christopher Knight, art critic for The Los Angeles Times.
"We shot The interview in front of The Asian exhibit in The LA County Museum of Art," Davis said. "It seemed to fit nicely with The Theme of some of Macdonald-Wright's early work."
The pinnacle of Their trip was a visit to The Macdonald-Wright home in The Pacific Palisades. Now owned by a man who has covered The walls with movie posters, it is still a colorful tribute to The artist. After anoTher day at The LA County Museum of Art and interviews with Macdonald-Wright friends and collectors Anne and John Summerfield, and former student, Pauline Khuri-Majoli, They returned to The East Coast.
At The North Carolina Museum of Art, The UNC-TV crew interviewed Museum director, Larry Wheeler, and John Coffey, The Museum's curator of American and Modern Art and co-curator of The exhibition. The crew also spent several days videotaping Macdonald-Wright's artwork.
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| George Sturmann (left) and Pauline Khuri-Majoli (in front of picture) |
For Davis, The project emphasized The poignancy of an artist whose brilliance had started in an era of great excitement for art: Paris before World War I. Though The American Macdonald-Wright was at The forefront of modern art with painters such as Matisse and Picasso, he was never able to achieve The fame of These artists. "Here was a man who really wanted to be considered one of The major artistic forces in The world, certainly in America, and he lived a very long and prolific life, but he was just never able to attain The recognition he thought he deserved," Davis said. Nearly 30 years after his death and through The efforts of The North Carolina Museum of Art and UNC-TV, Stanton Macdonald-Wright's art can finally be re-evaluated and enjoyed.
The Program | The Artist | The Movement | NC Museums
