I. M. Pei

Two documentaries, First Personal Singular and The Museum on the Mountain, that I would be delighted to show at the Clark, tell the story of the China-born but Harvard-bred architect of celebrated additions to the National Gallery in DC and the Louvre. His work on the Miho Museum outside of Kyoto relates to the Clark’s own “art in nature” situation. The great advantage these films have over most others is the charming presence of the architect himself. His perpetual smile somehow comes through in his buildings, even when he acknowledges flaws and shortfalls. The first film surveys his whole life and career, while the second focuses on one late and summative project. The photography is serviceable but not showy, offering a sense of, not a surrogate for, the buildings themselves, but the personality of the architect is foregrounded to good effect. (1993-97, dvd, n.) *7*