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What Becomes a Legend Most? The Blackglama Photographs from the Collection of Peter Rogers

What Becomes a Legend Most? The Blackglama Photographs from the Collection of Peter Rogers
• More than 50 photographs from this iconic advertising campaign go on view March 14, 2013
• Blackglama Gala: A Legendary Evening honoring Peter Rogers, March 16, 2013

Shirley MacLaine. Photograph by Bill King. From the Collection of Peter RogersShirley MacLaine. Photograph by Bill King. From the Collection of Peter Rogers

NEW ORLEANS, LA – Liza, Elizabeth, Pavarotti, Ray, Audrey: Stars from another era that need only be known by one name. It was these women and men who graced the pages of magazines and billboards from 1968 to the early 1990s in the Blackglama fur ads, “What Becomes a Legend Most?”

More than 50 black-and-white photographs from this ad campaign will go on view at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art on March 14, 2013 in the exhibition, What Becomes a Legend Most?: The Blackglama Photographs from the Collection of Peter Rogers. The exhibition is on view until June 30, 2013. The photographs showcased in the exhibition are from the heyday of the campaign, 1968 to 1993. Photographs feature a stellar lineup from opera singer Leontyne Price and musician Ray Charles to actors Shirley MacLaine and Rosalind Russell.

This iconic What Becomes a Legend Most? campaign was conceived in 1968 for the Great Lakes Mink Association (GLMA) to create awareness about the high-quality mink fur produced by farmers in that region of the United States. Out of this need an iconic brand and advertising campaign was born: the brand name, “Blackglama,” the “What Becomes a Legend Most” tagline, and the idea to use stars of stage and screen wearing Blackglama furs (which they were allowed to bring home after the photo shoot). Rogers, the art director for the campaign, found the talent, then cosseted them with limousines and personal attention. He worked with subjects that were, to some extent, worshipped as icons.

From 1969 to 1972, Richard Avedon was the primary photographer. Bill King then photographed the campaign until his death in 1987. Other photographers represented in the exhibition are Francesco Scavullo, Brigitte Lacombe and Jeanloup Sieff.

This is a rare opportunity to see legendary figures—epitomizing glamour of a bygone time—to celebrate their contributions to American culture, and to recognize the lasting impact of the Blackglama ad campaign.

The Blackglama Gala: A Legendary Evening honoring Peter Rogers
On March 16, 2013, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art will honor Mississippi native and legendary advertising executive Peter Rogers, whose exhibition, What Becomes a Legend Most?: The Blackglama Photographs from the Collection of Peter Rogers, opens March 14.

The night will include music, fine cuisine and no doubt, special glamorous guests, set against the backdrop of the Ogden Museum and this exhibition.
Time: Patrons Party, 6 pm; Gala at 7 pm.

Tickets: $150 for Patrons Party and Gala; $100 for Gala. To purchase tickets, go to: www.ogdenmuseum.org/events/blackglama.

Questions: Contact Colleen Connor, 504.539.9616, [email protected].

About Peter Rogers:
A native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Peter Rogers got his start in the world of advertising in a circular way: he had an afterschool job at a local department store where he created window displays. The owner, recognizing his talent, told him to go to New York City. Rogers did, and after working for a number of advertising agencies, he formed his own, Peter Rogers Associates, in 1974. His agency worked on the Blackglama fur campaign, as well as created such taglines as: “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good” for Vidal Sassoon; “Demanded by and created for perfectionists” for Baccarat; “Me and my Scaasi” for the fashion designer Arnold Scaasi, and “When Your Own Initials are Enough,” for Bottega Veneta, which is still used by the company today.
Today, Rogers lives in New Orleans’ French Quarter.

More information: http://www.ogdenmuseum.org