The films of Wes Anderson will go on display to celebrate the work of the film director later this year as this Wes Anderson archives announcement has been made today to mark the director’s birthday.
From the candy-pink model of the Grand Budapest Hotel to over 600 objects on display there will be a whole load of things for fans of Wes’s films to enjoy from stop-motion puppets, models, paintings, props and costumes.
The Design Museum is stepping into the realms of showcasing filmmakers work and after the very impressive Tim Burton Exhibition that we visited last year I can imagine that this one will be equally as exciting!
This will be the very first time the majority of these objects have been publicly displayed in Britain. Through these unique objects, the exhibition will chart the evolution of Anderson’s films from his first short and feature films in the 1990s, up to his most recent productions.
Wes Anderson: The Archives is the first major museum exhibition devoted to Wes Anderson’s extensive and distinctive cinematic output. It is a collaboration between la Cinémathèque française in Paris and the Design Museum in London — and with Wes Anderson himself.
The show premiered at la Cinémathèque française in March and will be expanded and re-imagined at the Design Museum later this year. Over 100 objects will be added, and there’ll be a new emphasis on the complex process of Anderson’s world-building design work and the contributions of his trusted collaborators.
Some of the event highlights include the vending machines from Asteroid City (2023), the FENDI fur coat worn by Gwyneth Paltrow as Margot Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and the original stop motion puppets used to depict the fantastical sea creatures in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004).
A major thread woven through the show is the story of the collaborative approach that makes Anderson’s work possible. On display will be works by many of these key long-standing creative partners, including Eric Chase Anderson, Javi Aznarez, Milena Canonero, Roman Coppola, Alexandre Desplat, Erica Dorn, Mark Friedberg, Andy Gent, Juman Malouf, Roger Do Minh, Sylvia Plachy, Carl Sprague, Simon Weisse and Laura Wilson.
Lucia Savi, Head of Curatorial and Interpretation at the Design Museum and co-curator of Wes Anderson: The Archives, said:
Each Wes Anderson picture plunges the viewer into a world with its own codes, motifs, references, and with sumptuous and instantly recognisable sets and costumes. Every single object in a Wes Anderson film is very personal to him — they are not simply props, they are fully formed pieces of art and design that make his inventive worlds come to life.
Johanna Agerman Ross, Chief Curator at the Design Museum and co-curator of Wes Anderson: The Archives, said:
It is an absolute gift that even as a young film-maker Wes Anderson had the vision and foresight to save all his props and beautifully crafted objects for his own archive. We are thrilled to be the first to fully dive into the archive’s full riches.
Tim Marlow, Director and CEO of the Design Museum, said:
Wes Anderson has created some of the most visually distinctive and emotionally resonant films of the last two decades — from the melancholic charm of The Royal Tenenbaums to the youthful adventurism of Moonrise Kingdom. He’s an utterly compelling creator of cinematic worlds, whose singular vision and attention to detail are underpinned by an acute understanding of design and craftsmanship, which is why the Design Museum is the perfect location for this landmark retrospective.
