The popular French photographer, best known for his arty nudes, is not well served by a spotty, American-themed survey uptown at the French Institute, but this show of pictures taken on the set of Jean Cocteau’s Testament of Orpheus in 1959 more than makes up for it. Because Clergue recorded both the making of the film and many of its key moments, Cocteau, as director and performer, is in nearly every shot. The supporting cast of actors and visitors includes Picasso, Serge Lifar, Yul Brynner, and Jean Marais, but none are as dramatic or bizarrely riveting as Cocteau, who inhabits the film’s atmosphere of myth and surrealism like an alien emperor.
The exhibition runs through Dec. 30 at Westwood Gallery NYC.
