“Forgotten Hollywood”- The Visual Magic of George Hurrell…

Posted on April 3, 2013 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

   Hollywood’s Golden Age may forever be remembered as a glamorous time simply because of the photographs of George Hurrell. His sumptuous black-and-white portraits of such stars as Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Myrna Loy, Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney have become iconic images in American culture, helping define the classic movie star.

gary cooper           marlene dietrich 2

                      GARY COOPER                                             MARLENE DIETRICH

   George Hurrell pioneered the creation of the Dream Factory publicity department. At the request of his wife Norma Shearer, MGM production chief Irving Thalberg signed Hurrell to a contract, making him head of the portrait photography department in 1932. Shearer hired the talented craftsmen at the suggestion of her friend, actor Ramon Navarro. During her career, Hurrell became her personal photographer. In the early 1940s, he moved to Warner Brothers. Later in the decade, he worked at Columbia Pictures, where his pictures were used to help the studio build the career of Rita Hayworth.

philbrook   An exhibit of his visual magic is currently on display through June 30th at the Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S. Rockford Rd. in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Hollywood Portraits of George Hurrell showcases a number of his best-known images. Since his death in 1992, his works have appreciated in value, and are highly sought after as fine art by collectors.

   A Hurrell portrait, wrote Esquire magazine in 1936, is to the ordinary publicity still what a Rolls Royce is to a roller skate. Go online for admission details and schedules at:

http://www.philbrook.org

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013 at 12:52 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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