The Palm Springs International Film Festival  opens this week with hundreds of filmgoers, movie makers, directors, actors and celebrities expected to attend the annual gala on Saturday, Jan. 7 and more than 100 films during the 11 day festival.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival takes place Jan 5-16.  Visit www.psfilmfest.org for tickets, information or to search for movies and screening times.

Besides the incredible array of films, galas and parties, one of the non-film highlights is an exhibition of Marilyn Monroe photographs that will be on display in stores and restaurants throughout Palm Springs Uptown Design District all during the festival.

The show is based on a new book about the actress, Marilyn: Intimate Exposures, and chock full of  photos by Bruno Bernard, her friend and confidante, the famous Bernard of Hollywood who is credited with “discovering” Marilyn.

“The art exhibit is something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while,” said Darryl MacDonald, festival director in a Palm Springs Life Desert Guide story by Scott Brassart this month.

www.PalmSpringsLife.com

Bernard has been called the “Rembrandt of photography” and the “king of glamour” who made his name taking portraits of female stars and starlets of the 1950s such as Anita Ekberg, Jayne Mansfield, Brigitte Bardot, and Monroe.  He also photographed many male luminaries such as John Wayne, Gregory Peck, and Elvis Presley.

Bernard fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s, eventually migrated to California where he studied film and photography.  He established himself in Hollywood becoming one of the most sought-after celebrity photographers.  Countless hopeful stars visited his Sunset Boulevard studio to have their portraits taken.

While she was still called Norma Jeane, the young model first met Bernard in 1946. One story says they  met passing one another while Bernard was leaving a dentist appointment apparently near his studio.

As did many Hollywood hopefuls, Norma Jeane stared up at the “Bernard of Hollywood” sign and asked if he thought she could be a model.

Bernard’s now famous photos captured the transformation of Norma Jeane, then a 19-year-old girl-next-door, into the glamorous movie star, Marilyn Monroe.

Bernard wrote,  “While nature has been generous to her figure, her face is just that of any pretty girl her age, very much like the girl next door, with the exception of her translucent skin, her waiflike innocence, the helplessness underneath.”

No one was so much at ease in front of the camera as Norma Jeane:  “Concentration, projection and synchronization are second nature to her,” he wrote in his journal.

www.immortalmarilyn.com

With additional studios in Palm Springs, Laguna Beach and Las Vegas, Bernard immortalized some of the century’s greatest stars and mastered the art of pin-up photography.

An icon of the 1950s and 60s, Monroe was often in Palm Springs between films and owned a home in the Las Palmas area from 1960-61. The Monroe photo exhibition in Palm Springs Design District shops and restaurants is a perfect place to connect with Mid-Century Modern design and decor.

After attending the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the retro photo exhibition, satisfy your passion for Modernism and take a tour of Mid Century Modern homes and estates for sale in the Palm Springs area.  Many are located in historic districts and significant neighborhoods near Marilyn Monroe’s former Las Palmas home.

Contact Team Haverkate at:   agent@teamhaverkate.com or visit www.HaverkateRealEstate.com

— Pamela Bieri

Blast from the Past: 60s and 70s Geometric Abstraction, now on exhibit in the Annenberg Wing at the Palm Springs Art Museum through December 23, is a vivid, powerful collection of geometric abstract paintings, sculpture and prints from the 1960s and 70s, a period known for its purity of style.

www.psmuseum.org

Some 100 artworks represent a variety of ideas in optical art (Op Art), kinetic art, minimalism, hard-edge and color field. Many of the works have rarely been or are on view for the first time in this impressive exhibit.

Purely abstract forms – square, rectangle, triangle, circle and geometric volumes such as the cube and cone — suggest architecture and geometry, while the artists’ use of primary colors, lines and compositional devices present a sensual experience, illustrating alternative ideas about art and principles of reality.

Op Art, a trend that uses optical illusions to simulate motion and other perceptual shifts, is seen in the experiments of Victor Vasarely, Carlos Cruz-Diez and Yascov Agam.  Bright primary colors finely interspersed with complementary hues, creates visual interactions between the colors that seem to give off light and vibrations.

In Jesus Rafael Soto’s classic work, the sensation of constant flux transforms color, space, line into a new perceptual experience.

Other artists from the southern California Abstract Classical movement such as John McLaughlin, Karl Benjamin, Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg, often infuse gentle blues, whites, yellows, and olive greens to their hard edge works that are “keenly reflective of the unique qualities of light and space” — characteristics of the southern California coastline.

Starting January 21, 2012 through May 27 in the Annenberg Wing will be Backyard Oasis: The Swimming Pool in Southern California Photography, 1945-1982.

As part of the Getty Foundation’s Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A., 1945-1980 regional initiative, this exhibit examines the swimming pool in photographs as visual analogs of the ideals and expectations associated with southern California.

The images of manmade pools in arid landscapes traces the iconography of California’s  swimming pool, an integral part of the region’s identity, and suggests “the hopes and disillusionments of the country’s post World War II ethos.”

Backyard Oasis will include some 135 framed works of archival photography, prints and selected film clips shown on flat-screen monitors.

Among featured artists’ work will be Diane Arbus, Bill Anderson, Michael Childers, Robert Cumming, Julius Shulman, and Maynard Parker.

During the January exhibition will be lectures and educational programs for K-12 grade students, college and university audiences and the general public. The exhibition’s catalog contains photos and an overview of the development of the swimming pool, its aesthetic and culture.

Palm Springs Art Museum was designed in the Modernist style by renowned local architect E. Stewart Williams in 1974.  The Steve Chase Art Wing and Education Center, also designed by Williams, opened in 1996.  Today, the 124,435 square foot museum complex houses various galleries, sculpture atriums, a museum store, cafe, and the 437-seat Annenberg Theater for the performing arts.

It is located at 101 Museum Way, downtown Palm Springs.  Call (760) 322-4800.

The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, noon to 8 p.m., closed Monday and holidays.  Free admission every Thursday, 4 – 8 p.m. during downtown Villagefest and the second Sunday of every month.  Admission is $12.50 adults, $10.50 seniors, $5 students, free for youths under 12, active military and their families.

After visiting these Mid-Century Modern inspired exhibits at the Palm Springs Art Museum, take a tour of Palm Springs’ wonderful collection of modernism homes and public buildings.  Pick up a map at the Palm Springs Visitor Center for a self tour.

www.visitpalmsprings.com

Once you’ve whet your appetite to own of these inspired desert modern home — and the artwork to go in them — Ralph Haverkate at  agent@teamhaverkate.com or visit www.TeamHaverkate.com for a personal tour of homes and estates for sale.

– Pamela Bieri

A Swinging’ Affair on December 11, a benefit for the Alzheimer’s Association, celebrates Frank Sinatra’s birthday and promises gala-goers a taste of Sinatra’s swingin’ lifestyle at two of his favorite Mid-Century  hangouts.

From a cocktail party at Sinatra’s former Twin Palms estate to a grand gala at the Riviera Resort and Spa and late-night after party in the Riviera’s Starlite Lounge, guests experience the Rat Pack lifestyle for an evening .

Frank Sinatra's former Twin Palms estate, designed by E. Stewart Williams, is now a popular venue for many Modernism events

At the Riviera, glitzy talent includes Frank Sinatra, Jr. with his 20 piece orchestra, singer Lainie Kazan with Matt Dusk and Daniel Joseph Baker from America’s Got Talent.  Actress Pamela Anderson is host of the Grand Gala.

The evening offers a rare opportunity to hang out and enjoy cocktails at listen to the live music of Buddy Greco Jr. Trio with Matt Dusk crooning at Sinatra’s former home, a modernism landmark  by noted architect E. Stewart Williams.

Sinatra’s Twin Palms estate was William’s first custom home commission.  Apparently one afternoon in May, 1947, Sinatra sauntered into Williams’ architectural firm slurping an ice cream.  His movie career at a zenith, Sinatra wanted Williams to design and build a big Georgian style home by Christmas.

www.psmodcom.org

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Stewart_Williams

Williams presented Sinatra with two sets of drawings, one for the Georgian-style home and another for a long, low four-bedroom house in which every room has a view of a large swimming pool shaped like a piano.  Fortunately, Sinatra chose the innovative modernist house, which put Williams’ design firm on the map.

Sinatra vacationed there with his first wife Nancy Barbato and three children, and later with his second wife, actress Ava Gardner.  Twin Palms became a popular destination for Sinatra’s famous friends — such as  JFK, his brother in law Peter Lawford and Sinatra’s neighbor Marilyn Monroe.  Sinatra’s landmark estate and the lifestyle he lived there helped fuel the wave of modernism which today defines Palm Springs.

www.sinatrahouse.com

Williams subsequently designed a number of custom Mid Century Modern homes as well public landmarks including the Oasis Office Building, Coachella Savings and Loan, Crafton Hills College (in Yucaipa), Santa Fe Savings Bank and the Upper Mountain Station of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.

www.pstramway.com

After a recent multi-million dollar renovation, The Riviera Resort and Spa reflect its glamorous Mid-Century Modern heritage.  The hotel was another famous hot spot Sinatra and his Rat Pack frequented in its circa 1959 heyday.

www.psriviera.com

At the Swingin’ Affair’s Grand Gala, guests will enjoy a three course gourmet dinner while reliving the era as Frank Sinatra Jr. pays tribute to his famous father in songs and anecdotes.  Lainie Kazan, Dusk and Baker share the spotlight with Sinatra.

After the gala, the party keeps on going into the wee hours with music and cocktails in the Riviera’s Starlite Lounge.

For tickets and more information, visit www.aswingingaffair.com

The revival of modernism has  generated great interest in both custom and tract Mid Century Modern homes in the Palm Springs area.  In fact, these homes continue to increase even as housing values decline in other markets.

For a personal tour of Mid Century Modern homes and estates for sale, many located in historic districts and significant neighborhoods, contact Ralph Haverkate at: Ralph@RHaverkate.com. or visit www.HaverkateRealEstate.com.

– Pamela Bieri