Performance: Richard Avedon

"We all perform. It's what we do for each other all the time, deliberately or unintentionally. It's a way of telling about ourselves in the hope of being recognized as what we'd like to be." --Richard Avedon, 1974

The preeminent stars and artists of the performing arts from the second half of the 20th century offered their greatest gifts—and, sometimes, their inner lives—to Richard Avedon. More than 200 are portrayed in Performance, many in photographs that have been rarely or never seen before.

Of course, the great stars light the way: Hepburn and Chaplin, Monroe and Garland, Brando and Sinatra. But here too are the actors and comedians, pop stars and divas, musicians and dancers, artists in all mediums with public lives that were essentially performances, who stand at the pinnacle of our cultural achievement.

The celebrated author and critic John Lahr offers an elegant assessment of Avedon’s achievement. Four supremely talented artists from the performing arts—Mike Nichols, André Gregory, Mitsuko Uchida, and Twyla Tharp—contribute lively and moving memoirs about their collaborations with Avedon.

John Lahr is Senior Drama Critic of The New Yorker. In 2002, he was the first drama critic ever to win a Tony Award. Mike Nichols is an American Emmy Award, Academy Award, Grammy Award, and Tony Award–winning stage and film director, writer, and producer. André Gregory is an American director and actor. His best-known film appearance was as the title character in My Dinner with Andre. Mitsuko Uchida is a classical pianist, renowned for her recordings of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. Twyla Tharp is a leading American dancer and choreographer.