Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer Smithsonian & Govinda Gallery Tour Concludes

by Chris Murray on March 13, 2014

Kneeling at the Mosque, Richmond, Virginia, 1956. Copyright © Alfred Wertheimer. All Rights Reserved.

March 10th was the last day for the Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, Australia. It is also the conclusion of the extraordinary fourteen city museum tour organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and Govinda Gallery. The exhibition was launched at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in January of 2010. CBS Sunday Morning produced a feature story on Wertheimer’s exhibition at the Grammy Museum. The highlight at the Grammy Museum show for me was taking Priscilla Presley on a tour of the exhibition. The exhibition’s run in Washington, DC at the National Portrait Gallery that ended in January of 2014 was a sensational installation and was especially sweet for me as Amy Henderson and E. Warren Perry, Jr. from the National Portrait Gallery curated the exhibition with me.

My thanks go to Alfred Wertheimer and his photographs of Elvis Presley in 1956. They are a national treasure. A finer person you could not meet than Alfred Wertheimer. A very special thank you to Marquette Folley and everyone at SITES. Marquette’s vision and dynamic energy was an inspiration. Lena Tabori from Welcome Books published a beautifully designed and printed catalogue for the exhibition. I am so grateful to have worked with her. My appreciation to the History Channel who supported the exhibition and its tour. I want to gratefully acknowledge all of the museums that hosted the exhibition and the directors, curators, and the staff at those museums. My appreciations to everyone at Govinda Gallery who assisted with this project. A very special thanks to David Adamson and his team at Adamson Editions. I remain grateful to Peter Guralnick, Priscilla Presley, Michael Meyer, Bob Santelli, Bob Colacello, ‘Boss’, Carlotta, Vivienne, and Milciades Buritica, and to everyone who enjoyed this exhibition of Alfred Wertheimer’s photographs of Elvis. Thank you.

Left: Govinda Gallery Director Chris Murray, The Honorable Nancy Pelosi and Photographer Alfred Wertheimer. Right: Marquette Folley and Chris Murray. At the Govinda Gallery Halcyon House party celebrating the launch of Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, 2010. Copyright © Vivienne Foster. All Rights Reserved.

Photographer Alfred Wertheimer. Copyright © Angelo Pacella. All Rights Reserved.

Tour Dates and Locations »

Fan in White Filled with Emotion after meeting Elvis, New York City, 1956. Copyright © Alfred Wertheimer. All Rights Reserved.

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