Mount Rushmore backdrop from North by Northwest, MGM (1959). Photo by Sandy Carson
In Florida’s Boca Raton Museum of Art, a new exhibition features historic, original film backdrops that debuted during Hollywood’s Golden Age in such iconic movies as North by Northwest, Ben-Hur and The Sound of Music. Each of the 22 spectacular film backdrops in Art of the Hollywood Backdrop is on loan from the historic film backdrop collection in Texas Performing Arts.
Faculty member and Texas Performing Arts Associate Director of Fabrication Studios Karen Maness co-curated the exhibition with Art Directors Guild Archives President Thomas Walsh. The exhibition celebrates Hollywood’s masters of illusion and perspective, who have received little recognition for their talent and essential role in making film magic. The exhibition is on view through Jan. 22.