Karsh, Leonard, and Bagert: A Photographic Legacy

From the Polk Museum's website ... LAKELAND, FL. - Starting Saturday, May 24, Polk Museum of Art will be hosting an exhibition of photographs by three "generations" of artists. Karsh, Leonard, and Bagert: A Photographic Legacy will demonstrate the way photographic traditions are passed down from mentor to student.

I have to say the opening was last night and what a night it was ... fantastic! Seeing and hearing Leonard and Bagert speak on their work and the exhibition as a whole was very special. It's why we keep going back to this museum (time and time again) and it's what sets the Polk Museum above all other local museums. It's always the complete package ... solid vision, planning, curating, opening, and most often a curator or director talk, artist lecture and/or an appearance by a major dealer or gallery representative that makes the whole experience memorable.

Duke Ellington, Paris 1959, by Herman Leonard
iPhone photo by (c) Matt Larson, 2008

While at the podium, Herman Leonard spoke about the photograph above, he says, "When you're in a room with Duke Ellington, you felt his presence."