Discovery in a Painting
Following his use of art, painting and sculpture, in his work of the previous decades, Hurwitz took on a project for the American Foundation of the Arts aimed at deepening and enriching, for art students, the way in which we see. Working with his second wife, the editor Peggy Lawson, he made four short films comprising The Art of Seeing Series. The films, made without words, are beautiful poems to the pleasure of sight. This film came as a challenge that Hurwitz made for himself, to replicate in film his experience of seeing a work of art — in this case Césanne’s Still Life with Apples, 1895-98, that hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Although he finished the visual part of the film, he was stymied by the soundtrack in which he wanted no narration. About 45 years later, his colleague, Manfred Kirchheimer, created a sound track and produced the finished film.
Leo Hurwitz and Manfred Kirchheimer
Year
1970 & 2016
Runtime
30 minutes
Format
16mm
LEO HURWITZ PRODUCTIONS
STREETWISE FILMS
Discovery in A Painting
An exploration of
Cezanne’s Still life
with Apples (1895-98)
Discovery in a Painting
Cezanne’s “Still life with Apple’s”
at the Museum of Moern Art
New York
A film by
LEO HURWITZ
Direction & editing
MANFRED KIRCHHEIMER
Camera & sound
MUSIC
Messiaen: Quartet for the End of time
Trio Orens; Richard Nunemaker, clarinet
Ravel: Sonata #1 in A for Violin & Piano
Maria Milstein, violin; Hannah Shybayeva, piano
Sonata for Violin & Cello
Deborah Wong, violin; Adam Grabois, Cello
Schubert: String Quartet in C, op 163, D 956
Isaac Stern, Cho-Liang Lin, violins; Laime Laredo, viola; Yo-yo Ma, Sharon Robinson, cellos
Film consultants
Nelly Burlingham
Tom Hurwitz, ASC
Thanks
Charles Doubleday
Walter Hess
Adam Grabois
Gloria DeVidas Kirchheimer
Margaret Klenck
Deborah Wong
The Museum of Modern Art
The American Federation of Arts
LEO HURWITZ PRODUCTIONS
STREETWISE FILMS
© 2014 The Leo Hurwitz Artistic Works Trust
