Google books with permission of harvard university press. Mary ellen bute, a film maker who produced and directed a movie based on james joyces finnegans wake, died of heart failure on monday at cabrini medical center in manhattan. Cannes film festival program passages from finnegans wake from. Mary ellen bute by phoca, sophia art monthly, issue 319. Further work on the script was done by bute, ted nemeth, and romana javitz. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. Mary ellen bute is one of the richest artist, who was born in united states. Mary ellen s complete home reference book pinkham, mary ellen on. For any budding animator, this retrospective of the littleknown filmmaker mary ellen bute, who died in 1977, is not to be missed. A houstonborn artist created some of the earliest and. Segment on mary ellen bute includes interviews with those who knew her.
Pioneer animator captures the personal and professional life of mary ellen bute 19061983 one of the first american filmmakers to create abstract animated films in 1934, also one of the first americans to use the electronic image of the oscilloscope in films starting in 1952, and the first filmmaker to interpret james joyces literature for the screen, passages from james joyces finnegans wake, a liveaction film for which she won a cannes film festival prize in 1965. Unfortunately, many early women filmmakers have been largely written out of film history, their contributions undervalued. Please visit this page for info on the bute retrospective film program, or to rent other bute films. Mary ellen bute camera three interview with william tindall on. Mary ellen bute news newspapers books scholar jstor november 2019 learn how and when to remove this template message. A houstonborn artist created some of the earliest and trippiest forms of visual music a mary ellen bute retrospective puts the spotlight on the oftforgotten film pioneer. Modern women explores the work of over three hundred women artists represented in the museums collection through essays that examine topics such as women at the bauhaus, design collaborations, photographers between the wars, the legacy of maya deren, performance art, architecture, land art, riot. Mary ellen bute was a pioneering independent american filmmaker who, over the course of twenty five years, produced a collection of. Ted nemeth bill nemeth mary ellen bute, united states. Literary rights, including, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns.
The kit smyth basquin collection of mary ellen bute is the physical property of the beinecke rare book and manuscript library, yale university. Early american avantgarde film, black thistle pressanthology film archives, nyc 2001. Bute collaborated on the screen treatment with irish actress and playwright mary manning, who had already done an adaptation of the book for the stage. Mary ellen bute, abstronic 1952, from the new cvm dvd, visual music 19471986 from cvm archive, featuring rare experimental animation films, including three. Mary ellen bute november 21, 1906 october 17, 1983 was a pioneer american film animator, producer, and director. Books by mary ellen richmond author of social diagnosis. Mary ellens 2019 year in books take a look at mary ellens year in books. Mary ellen bute november 21, 1906 october 17, 1983 was a pioneer american film. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search.
Aug 23, 2015 this feature is not available right now. Passages from james joyces finnegans wake mary ellen. The first disc is devoted to the two best known pioneer directors, alice guyblache and lois weber. Mary ellen bute by phoca, sophia art monthly, issue. Mary ellen s photographs of erin blackwell aka tiny and her family over 32 years. The experimental abstract films of pioneering american.
Mary ellen bute camera three interview with william tindall. In case you are a devotee of the genres, the books by this author will certainly be books worth scrutinizing. Filmed in dublin and the ted nemeth studio facilities in new york, with an irish cast, it was a labor of love for bute, a longtime member of the james joyce society, who made her. Mary ellen bute has not shared about mary ellen bute s parents name. Celebration for joyce centenary the new york times. Richter, duchamp, leger, man ray, and lye filmmakers working in europe have all become familiar names in any standard text of avantgarde cinema, and their films included in this show have become cinema classics. An international anthology bluraydvd dualformat edition. Set to classical music by the likes of bach, saintsaens or shostakovich, and filled with colorful forms, elegant design and sprightly. She is significant as one of the first female experimental filmmakers. Its been noted that mary ellen bute s artistic career lay outside the purview of the isolated artist working privately. By the time of the mary ellen bute interview in 1965 the show was well entrenched nationally as a sunday morning cultural affairs program on cbs. James joyce society quarterly meeting, gotham book mart gallery, 41 west 47 street.
Professor william york tindall, the noted joyce scholar and author of a readers guide to finnegans wake, was invited to participate in the discussion. The uk premiere exhibition of forgotten american experimental animator mary ellen bute s abstract films from the 1930s and 1950s is a rare chance to experience her pioneering exploration of visual music and early electronic art. For further information, consult the appropriate curator. Escape 1937 directed by mary ellen bute, bill nemeth et.
The more experimental animation from the 30s you watch, the less impressed with fantasia you will be. Admission lines form one hour prior to each program. The experimental abstract films of pioneering american animator. The library for the performing arts is proud to offer free admission to this program on a first come, first served basis. Pioneer animator captures the personal and professional life of mary ellen bute 19061983 one of the first american filmmakers to create abstract animated films in 1934, also one of the first americans to use the electronic image of the oscilloscope in films starting in 1952, and the first filmmaker to interpret james joyces literature for the screen, passages from james. Mary ellen richmond has 25 books on goodreads with 103 ratings. Last week i noted the appearance at ubuweb of mary ellen butes littleseen passages from james joyces finnegans wake. As the first book written on the history of motion graphics, i expected it to be better. Pioneer animator captures the personal and professional life of mary ellen bute 19061983 one of the first american filmmakers to create. Indiana university press office of scholarly publishing herman b wells library 350 20 e.
More women worked in film during its first two decades than at any time since. Mary ellen bute was born in houston, texas, on november 21, 1906, the first of six children in a socially prominent family. Bute began by studying painting at the pennsylvania academy and at the sorbonne. Pioneer animator captures the personal and professional life of mary ellen bute 19061983 one of the first american filmmakers to create abstract animated films in 1934, also one of the first americans to use the electronic image of the oscilloscope in films starting in 1952, and the first filmmaker to interpret james joyces literature for the screen, passages from james joyces finnegans wake. Synchromy n2 abstarct film 193536, by mary ellen bute and theodore nemeth, black white with music richard wagner the evenig star link. Mary ellen chase has 41 books on goodreads with 831 ratings. Mary ellen bute net worth, biography, age, height, dating. Mary ellen bute was a major filmmaker and a pioneering woman film artist who needs to have her output.
Three bute films are included in the soundmuseum exhibition at d museum, seoul, korea. Set to classical music by the likes of bach and shostakovich, and filled with elegant colorful forms and sprightly dancelike rhythms. Mary ellen bute was a film animator, director and producer. Images of bute with the oscilloscope can be found on the center for visual music website. Oct 15, 2018 pseudonym for mary burton novelist mary ellen taylor writes about relationships, family and tackling adversity in her contemporary womens fiction. Mary ellen bute s final film, and one of the only cinematic adaptations of james joyces masterfully complex work of fiction, finnegans wake. This is for private home use and research only, no permission mary ellen bute, colorrhapsodie trailer on vimeo. She was a pioneer in adopting electronic techniques for film animation. Both of these women have had books written about them and have had a number of dvdblu rays devoted to their movies. The mary ellen bute papers is the physical property of the beinecke rare book and manuscript library, yale university.
She became the compelling subject of the book and film streetwise. Mary ellen bute was born in united states on november 21, 1906. As with many pioneer animators, mary ellen bute is hardly known today, primarily because her films are not easily available in good prints. Mary ellen bute camera three interview with william. However, the way its written is so dense and heavy. Happy birthday, mary ellen bute the sheila variations. Mary ellen woods author of we shall neer be younger. During the opening credits we are given a title card that shows us various shapes and it tells us what characters those shapes are playing. These highcontrast blackandwhite images, in evocative collage, make up the texture of mary ellen butes 1966 film passages from james joyces finnegans wake. Hq 1939 mary ellen bute spook sport seeing sound topics animation, color music, visual music, motion graphics, mary ellen butte, motion graphics, mary ellen butte.
Behind miss bute s models of the mathematical order which exists in music are the esoterically trigonometric investigations of the editorial board of scripta mathematica, learned journal of yeshiva college in new york city. Shot over a two year period, bute was tasked with transforming. Hans richter, oskar fischinger, mary ellen bute, len lye, and norman mclaren. Lovers of cinema will become an essential point of reference for the future study of cinemas early years. Copy belonging to actor peter haskell, with his holograph annotations throughout and his shooting schedule laid in.
From age 16 to 28, she studied at the pennsylvania academy of art, the yale drama department and the sorbonne, traveled around the world, and apprenticed to numerous avantgarde artists, scientists and musicians in new. Spook sport 1940 out of 4 the story is quite simple as the setting is a graveyard at night where there are bats, bells, ghosts and spooks. Mary ellen bute papers at yale a collection at beinecke rare book and manuscript library, yale. Between 1965 and 1967, bute created her last film, and only feature film, passages from finnegans wake. Sadly, mary ellen bute s short films are almost forgotten today, but from the 1930s to 1950s her abstract musical shorts were known to a wide audience. News comes this week of an exhibition of her abstract films at sketch, london. The education of mary ellen bute by lillian schiff. Mary ellen bute and her movies, however, are practically unknown today. Short trailer from bute s film, available on the new cvm visual music compilation dvd details below. The style of the films fitted the style of the times. Mary ellen hughes is an author that believes that the books created by her are unprecedented and they will dependably draw your attention adequately if you are an enthusiast of secret. In his article, expressive motion in the early films of mary ellen bute, kristian moen provides valuable close analyses of some of her films discussed through her design processes and their artistic and formal progression over time.
Selected statements by bute about her films ted nemeth and mary ellen bute we need a new kinetic, visual art form one that unites sound, color and form. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. Seeing sound by william moritz mary ellen bute the museum of modern artfilm stills archive as with many pioneer animators, mary ellen bute is hardly known today, primarily because her films are not easily available in good prints. By the time of the mary ellen bute interview in 1965 the show was well entrenched nationally as a sunday morning cultural. As a book written in only a few weeks, its impressive. A highly subjective bestof list of animation, stopmotion, experimental and computeranimated short flicks. Mary ellen bute, abstronic 1952, from the new cvm dvd, visual music 19471986 from cvm archive, featuring rare experimental animation films, including three by bute.
To the rhythm of music that sounds a bit like a busby berkeley tune, lines and circles appear against a black background. This animated film from mary ellen bute and norman mclaren is quite simply very fascinating to say the least. A short piece from the controversial leni riefenstahl, two animated works by mary ellen bute, an excerpt from dorothy arzner, and maya derens meshes of the afternoon from 1943 finishes out the set. The professors work out equations for the scale of the model and tempo of the visual music which miss bute arranges and mr. Mary ellen butes film adaptation of finnegans wake. Though her name may not ring a bell with most cineastes, mary ellen bute s contemporaries and collaborators recall the new yorkbased filmmaker vividly. Short, poetic, and highly abstract musical films are the hallmark of avantgarde filmmaker and animator mary ellen bute. Basquin has owned, curated, and directed galleries and museums. Mary ellen bute have position among the list of 3 famous artist. These are my seven desert island animation reference books. As i stated earlier, this collection will have a much greater appeal to those interested in the history of film rather than the general public. With one exception, all are original to this volume, and many are the first to treat comprehensively such early filmmakers as mary ellen bute, theodore huff, and douglass crockwell. She then moved to new york and began cultivating her interest in creating ways to order musical compositions with pictorial forms. Mary ellen and martin continued to photograph and film her and her growing family.
Jul 25, 2008 the gallery at sketch, w1, sat 26 to sep. Early in her career she made animated films in the visual music style that synchronized abstract images and music. Prior to retiring from new yorks metropolitan museum of art, she worked as an administrator for years with prints and drawings. Passages from james joyces finnegans wake mary ellen bute. Oct 19, 1983 mary ellen bute, a film maker who produced and directed a movie based on james joyces finnegans wake, died of heart failure on monday at cabrini medical center in manhattan. A pioneer of visual music and electronic art, houstonian mary ellen bute 19061983 produced more than a dozen short abstract animations from the 1930s to 1950s. Basquin wrote an annotated bibliography of books and articles on ethiopian art in 1968, and she has also written a biography about mary ellen bute. Oskar fischinger, allegretto, 19361943 mary ellen bute, tarantella, 1940. Mary ellen bute cannes film festival program passages. As challenging a reading experience as finnegans wake can be, in a way it is james joyces simplest creation. Shes spent most of her life in her birthplace, richmond, virginia, but during her brief time in alexandria, she fell in love with that city, its history and its famed old town section. The camera three interview provides a rare opportunity to hear mary ellen bute discuss her film, so in that alone its a welcome piece of film history.
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