The restoration works of the pictures,
capturing the final 85 days of James Dean.

James Dean

The actor who reached the stardom after the first two movies "East of Eden" and "Rebel Without a Cause" had left this world without witnessing the success of third and the last on his filmography "Giant".

Born 1931 in Indiana, James Dean debuted on the silver screen in "East of Eden"(1955) and had equal, if not more, success in "Rebel Without a Cause" released in the same year. A week after he finished shooting his third film "Giant", Dean died in an accident in California while driving his beloved Porsche 550/1500RS. He was just 24 years old.

In "Rebel Without a Cause", Dean portrayed gloomy and ominous emotions of the times and widely resonated with his generation. In "East of Eden" he personified a man hungry for paternal love. In "Giant", the last appearance in a feature film, he played a life of a character, a young defiant cowboy going against a wealthy rancher with everything he's got who eventually became one of America's millionaires. The performances were highly acclaimed and brought him two Oscar nominations. In "Giant" Dean co-starred with famed and celebrated actress Elizabeth Taylor.

The outfit Dean had for his role in the movie, a pair of blue jeans and red swing-top became such icons symbolizing adrescents' rebellion against adults. Dean also committed himself to car racing and had driving skills at the level of professionals.

Dean died before the last work of his very short movie career hit the theaters, and one of the reasons why he's still a beloved movie star is because of the way he shot up to the stardom and repeated revivals of his works all around the world. Fans of his span across generations, from those in forties to eighties.

Sanford Roth

Photographer Sanford Roth left highly acclaimed works that brought him international recognitions such as portraits of Picasso, Chagall and Einstein.

Roth and Dean spent deeply intimate 85 days immediately prior to Dean's death. As a still photographer for the movie "Giant", Roth first met Dean at a movie set. From then on, they developed friendship both professionally and privately. Moments like playing with Roth's cameras during break between takes and visiting Roth's house for chatting with Beulah, playing drums or working on sculpture piece were captured on film. It was obvious the artists, a photographer and an actor, immediately hit it off, and Roth caught signs of Dean's promising talents. Roth was actually with Dean when the famous crash happened. Moments building up to it were also captured on film as well as clearly rattled Roth in the face of the erratic behaviour that led to the death of his new, young and talented friend to whom he held strong friendship.

Bio:
Born 1906 in New York. Beside the works on James Dean, Roth photographed 20th Century icons such as Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Georges Rouault, Igor Stravinsky, Colette and many others. Roth died 1962 in Rome. Roth’s works had appeared on Life, Paris Match, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Oggi, People among others. Roth held solo exhibitions at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), The Art Institute of Chicago, Pasadena Museum of California Art, SFMoMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) and Mills College Art Museum.

Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, California
Musee De La Photographie Ville de Mougins le Maire, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena, California
Getty Museum Research Center, Los Angeles, California
Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany