Through the Eyes of Stanley Marcus

One day about a decade ago, Stanley Marcus, the famed minder of the store at Neiman Marcus, pulled up to his granddaughter’s house, climbed out of his chauffeur-driven car, and gave her some pictures that he’d taken over the years. There were roughly 5,000 images, all on Kodachrome slides, most carefully labeled with the location and time of the shoot. Allison V. Smith, a photographer herself, thanked her grandfather, put the images in a closet, and promptly forgot about them.

In 2004, two years after Marcus’ death, Smith dug those images out of her closet. She was stunned. Though some were merely family snapshots, many were fine art.

Smith felt compelled to make something of the gift. She and her mother, Jerrie Marcus Smith (coincidentally, the woman who named D Magazine), formed Cairn Press to publish a book, Reflection of a Man: The Photographs of Stanley Marcus. Its release coincided with the 100th anniversary of Neiman Marcus. And this month, the Dallas Museum of Art will show 40 of Marcus’ photographs.

“He was such a great patron of the museum,” says Dr. William Rudolph, the Pauline Gill Sullivan associate curator of American art. Rudolph selected the images for the show. “This was a whole new dimension to the man and his legacy. It has been a revelation for all of us.”

“Reflection of a Man” runs January 2 through March 30. 1717 N. Harwood. 214-922-1802.

Self-portrait at a flea market, Paris, France, March 1966.

Stanley’s daughter Jerrie Marcus Smith at the Marcus home on Nonesuch Road, Dallas, Texas, August 1960.

Designer Pauline Trigère at her home in Westchester County, New York, June 1963.

(Left) Guido di Camerino seated on Attila the Hun’s throne, Torcello, Italy, April 1955.(Right) Dress uniforms of the carabinieri, Padua, Italy, late 1950s.

A sales show for tractors at the Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas, June 1964.

Nuns in St. Peter’s Square, Rome, Italy.

Stanley Marcus’ wife, Billie (right), and friends in straw hats bought at the market, Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1962.