Photograph of Marvin Israel by Lee Friedlander, part of the collection at MoMA.

A composite of Marvin Israel’s persona was pieced together last evening in Neil Selkirk and Yolanda Cuomo’s showing of Who is Marvin Israel?, a documentary film about the legendary art director of Harper’s Bazaar.

Interviews and conversations with Israel’s contemporaries, students, and protégés gave audiences a glimpse of a remarkable man who had tirelessly challenged those who had worked for and befriended him. Israel, who was fondly recalled as an “egotistical” and “scruffy” man, is responsible for the widespread recognition of Richard Avedon, Lee Friedlander, Diane Arbus, and Walker Evans, among others.

The film captures not only the collective memories of Marvin Israel by his friends and colleagues, but also fragments of a genius mind at work. Images of Israel’s paintings, collages, magazine spreads, and old photographs are strung together to recall a bygone era. And amidst that landscape, a vibrant portrait of a man who liberated the medium of his time.