Tony Walton Designs on Display at Mark Borghi Gallery

	Costume sketch for Whoopi Goldberg in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

A never-before-seen collection of the artwork of award-winning director, production designer, and costume designer Tony Walton will be unveiled today at the Mark Borghi Gallery in Sag Harbor, Long Island. The Tony Walton: Retrospective, which will feature approximately 100 works, will be on view through February 3. An opening reception will be held on Friday, December 10, from 5 to 8pm.

This marks the first time Walton's work has been offered for sale in more than 60 years. The exhibition will include hand-drawn sketches, paintings, and murals from Walton's work on Broadway's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Guys and Dolls, Pippin, Annie Get Your Gun, Company, House of Blue Leaves, Sophisticated Ladies, A Christmas Carol, Uncle Vanya, and more; as well as from the film versions of Mary Poppins, Murder on the Orient Express, and All That Jazz as well as the American Ballet Theatre production of The Sleeping Beauty. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor.

The prolific artist is highly regarded for his versatility of form, function, and style. "I've tried hard to never repeat the look of anything I've already designed," Walton says. "It's been important for me personally so I can learn and grow and as artist, and even more so for every production to have its own unique signature look."

Standout pieces in the show, curated by Marisa Borghi, include costume sketches for Whoopi Goldberg in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (see photo); pen-and-ink wardrobe drawings of Sean Connery, Vanessa Redgrave, Lauren Bacall, Michael York, Jacqueline Bisset, and Ingrid Bergman for Murder on the Orient Express; watercolors of Lillian Gish, Julie Christie, and George C. Scott for Uncle Vanya; and original preliminary sketches for Mary Poppins.

"Tony Walton and his work have been at the forefront of the Broadway and film art scene for the past seven decades," Ms. Borghi says. "He's a creative giant whose artistry has left an indelible mark on our culture. We are pleased to be able to offer so many works from this prolific and prodigious talent."

Walton earned an Academy Award in 1980 for the art direction of All That Jazz and was nominated for his work on Mary Poppins, The Wiz, and Murder on the Orient Express. His Emmy Award was for the art direction of the 1985 film of Death of a Salesman. His Tony Awards were for the scenic designs of Pippin (1973), The House of Blue Leaves (1986) and Guys and Dolls (1992); he was also nominated for Chicago, Anything Goes, Grand Hotel, The Will Rogers Follies, Uncle Vanya, The Apple Tree, A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine, The Real Thing, The Front Page, Lend Me a Tenor, She Loves Me, and Steel Pier. He also won Drama Desk Awards for Shelter and Social Security and BAFTA nominations for Murder on the Orient Express.

An Art Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Winner, Walton has been honored by the American Museum of the Moving Image, The Noel Coward Society, the National Arts Club, The Library of Congress, and Guild Hall in East Hampton; at Bay Street Theater a retrospective of his work remains on display. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, Gen LeRoy-Walton, and is the father of Emma Walton Hamilton -- whose mother is Julie Andrews -- and stepfather of Bridget LeRoy.

For more information, and to see the works on display, to go www.markborghi.com/artists/136-tony-walton/.