PERFORMANCE: RICHARD AVEDON

"We all perform. It's what we do for each other all the time, deliberatelyor unintentionally. It's a way of telling about ourselves in the hope ofbeing recognized as what we'd like to be."--Richard Avedon, 1974 The preeminent stars and artists of the performing arts from the secondhalf of the 20th century offered their greatest gifts—and,sometimes, their inner lives—to Richard Avedon. More than 200 areportrayed in Performance, many in photographs that have been rarely ornever seen before. Of course, the great stars light the way: Hepburn andChaplin, Monroe and Garland, Brando and Sinatra. But here too are theactors and comedians, pop stars and divas, musicians and dancers, artistsin all mediums with public lives that were essentially performances, whostand at the pinnacle of our cultural achievement. The celebrated authorand critic John Lahr offers an elegant assessment of Avedon's achievement.Four supremely talented artists from the performing arts—MikeNichols, André Gregory, Mitsuko Uchida, and Twyla Tharp—contributelively and moving memoirs about their collaborations with Avedon.