An Icon Expands And John Malkovich Takes Center Stage This Fall In New Orleans
One of many newly renovated galleries at M.S. Rau highlights masterworks from its painting ... [+]
M.S. RAUIf a European royal family held an estate sale it might look something like M.S. Rau.
M.S. Rau literally started from the ground up when renovating and expanding the two buildings it ... [+]
M.S. RAUToday In: Lifestyle
Four years of planning, permitting, preparation and construction went into M.S. Rau's takeover of ... [+]
M.S. RAU“I'm mostly excited to be able to give every piece of importance the real estate that it deserves,” Rau said. “You sometimes take for granted, or you overlook, how important things are when they're so closely installed, but by letting everything breathe, we’ll be able to better tell the story of each piece and add a kind of gravitas to our collection.” That collection includes seven figure-plus oil paintings by van Gogh, Monet and Rene Magritte. A 116.16 carat sapphire necklace. An astonishing jeweled cross given by Pope Paul VI as a gift to the United Nations in 1965. The magnificent object could serve as the centerpiece for an Indiana Jones movie. None of those, however, are Rau’s favorite item to pass through the store. “We recently sold Abraham Lincoln's opera glasses that he was using on the night that he was shot and it's almost certainly the last thing that the president ever touched,” Rau answered when asked which object most stood out to her. “They were really haunting to hold on to and look at.” Upon completion of this round of renovations, M.S. Rau will turn its attention to the 630 Royal Street property where the ground floor will be transformed into an expanded jewelry gallery. “We're very much looking forward to expanding our jewelry department,” Rau said. “That is a big part of our future.” The footprint of M.S. Rau’s jewelry department will almost quadruple once the upgrades have been completed in fall of 2020. “For me, as a young person who is now more rooted in New Orleans in the business, it means really committing to the desire to continue to build and grow this business to be a part of the local cultural scene and the local economy and to intend to see it through in a long-term way,” Rau said.
Expanded M.S. Rau galleries building exteriors before renovation.
M.S. RAU
Expanded M.S. Rau galleries building exteriors after renovation.
M.S. RAUFrom the French Quarter to New Orleans’ Arts District, where the Mac-Gryder Gallery presents photographer Sandro Miller’s groundbreaking collaboration, Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: Homage to Photographic Masters.
Sandro Miller after Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California (1936), 2014.
SANDRO MILLERComprising recreations of 61 iconic photographs taken throughout two sessions in 2014 and 2017, John Malkovich–who has a home in New Orleans–doesn’t merely play a vast range of characters in Miller’s photos, he inhabits them. “The show provides a way into these famous images, to revisit them and understand more fully what made them great, what made them important, and why they’ve stood the test of time,” Mac-Gryder Gallery co-founder Jill McGaughey said. Miller, who was battling stage four throat cancer at the time of the project, painstakingly researched and prepared for each of the 61 recreations, all of which are based on photos that deeply influenced him as a photographer. All aspects of the original works, from clothing and sets to film and camera types used, were examined. Lighting effects were mimicked by studying extreme closeups of the subjects’ eyeballs. “This is a project that, in hindsight, was just insane to take on,” Miller said when Mac-Gryder Gallery announced the show. “We did 40 shots in six 14-hour days in 2014, then, in August of 2017, we shot another 21 in three days for a total of 61 to complete the homage series.”
Sandro Miller after Bert Stern, Marilyn in Pink Roses (from The Last Session, 1962), 2014.
SANDRO MILLERMiller first met Malkovich in the late 1990s while working on a job for Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago.
(John Malkovich and Sandro Miller) describe each other as warm, gentle and generous. They have a remarkable working chemistry and a true friendship that results in a great deal of artistic respect and trust together. That kind of chemistry can’t be forced and it’s what makes this collaboration more than the sum of its parts.
Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: Homage to Photographic Masters is on view at Mac-Gryder Gallery through October 26 and returns to view at the gallery from December 7 through the 31.
