This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/18/fashion/remembering-bill-cunningham.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Remembering Bill Cunningham Remembering Bill Cunningham
(about 2 hours later)
In March 2010, when the film “Bill Cunningham New York” had its premiere at the Museum of Modern Art, the subject of the film — the longtime New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham — stood outside on the West 53rd Street sidewalk, snapping photos of attendees as they strode into the theater. But he never went inside to the screening itself, and he always maintained that he had never seen the documentary that made him famous.In March 2010, when the film “Bill Cunningham New York” had its premiere at the Museum of Modern Art, the subject of the film — the longtime New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham — stood outside on the West 53rd Street sidewalk, snapping photos of attendees as they strode into the theater. But he never went inside to the screening itself, and he always maintained that he had never seen the documentary that made him famous.
Two years later, when he was honored by Carnegie Hall with its Medal of Excellence, he accepted the honor graciously and gave a moving speech at the dinner, reading from rolls of paper on which he had handwritten his remarks. But in the article about the event that ran in The Times that Sunday, accompanied by his photos of the fashionably dressed guests, he insisted that all mention of the night’s honoree — himself — be stricken from the account.Two years later, when he was honored by Carnegie Hall with its Medal of Excellence, he accepted the honor graciously and gave a moving speech at the dinner, reading from rolls of paper on which he had handwritten his remarks. But in the article about the event that ran in The Times that Sunday, accompanied by his photos of the fashionably dressed guests, he insisted that all mention of the night’s honoree — himself — be stricken from the account.
So, it was not hard to imagine what his reaction might have been to the gathering of more than 1,000 people at Carnegie Hall on Monday afternoon, including Michael R. Bloomberg, who spoke of how Mr. Cunningham captured the “diversity, creativity, grit, glamour, spirit and swagger of New York”; Anna Wintour, who read the Lord Byron poem “So We’ll Go No More a Roving”; and the New York Times publisher and chairman, Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., all coming together to pay heartfelt tribute to the man who died on June 25 at age 87. So, it was not hard to imagine what his reaction might have been to the gathering of more than 1,000 people at Carnegie Hall on Monday afternoon, including Michael R. Bloomberg, who spoke of how Mr. Cunningham captured the “diversity, creativity, grit, glamour, spirit and swagger of New York”; Anna Wintour, who read the Lord Byron poem “So We’ll Go No More a Roving”; and the New York Times publisher and chairman, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., all coming together to pay heartfelt tribute to the man who died on June 25 at age 87.
He would have been outside, his bike parked nearby, snapping away at the men and women streaming in — and doing his best to ignore the very reason Carnegie Hall was filled to capacity on this unseasonably warm fall day. He would have been outside, his bike parked nearby, snapping away at the men and women streaming in — and doing his best to ignore the very reason Carnegie Hall was filled to near capacity on this unseasonably warm fall day.
Inside, more than one speaker spoke of the irony of the moment. Of the outpouring of tributes, Mr. Sulzberger said, “Bill would have been, quite frankly, embarrassed.”
Mr. Sulzberger was followed by Ms. Wintour, clad in Chanel, who said she chose the Lord Byron poem because she said “it reminds me of the joy I’d always feel seeing Bill out on his rounds on a magical New York night.” Her voice quavered with emotion as she read the moving opening stanza: “So, we’ll go no more a roving/So late into the night/Though the heart be still as loving/And the moon be still as bright.”
Anne Hawley, a former director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — which Mr. Cunningham was first taken to by his father at age 7 and then frequently photographed as an adult — spoke of how Mr. Cunningham considered the Boston museum “his spiritual home.”
His longtime friend Heidi Rosenau, a staff member at the Frick Collection, told of cajoling Mr. Cunningham to travel up to the Upper East Side on the occasional Monday afternoon, when the Frick was normally closed to the public, to share a bowl of soup and then wander around the museum, looking again at some of his favorite paintings.
Other speakers included the philanthropist Diana DiMenna, who spoke of Mr. Cunningham’s final days in the hospital this past summer and how he brightened at the sight of her walking into his room carrying a vintage Bakelite purse; Joan and Sanford I. Weill; William Rudin; Vartan Gregorian (“Wherever he went, he served as the eyes of New York”); Mr. Cunningham’s Times colleagues John Kurdewan and Joanna Nikas; and a niece, Trish Jarvis Simonson, who told of childhood beach vacations with “Uncle Billy” and how he would arrive every Christmas bearing a gingerbread house bought at a Manhattan bakery.
“Bill devoted his life to documenting style, but to him style went far beyond clothes,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “To him style was less about what people wore and more about how they wore it. It was an expression of freedom.”
Then, as did many of the other speakers after they finished their remarks, the former mayor turned toward Mr. Cunningham’s bike, which held a place of honor on the stage throughout the ceremony, and gently touched it in tribute as he passed by on his way back to his seat.