MADRID.- This is the first large exhibit dedicated to Charles Chaplin presented in Spain which has been organized by the Fundacion La Caixa and NBC Photographie, París. The exhibit gathers approximately 300 documents, mainly photographs, posters, extracts from films some of them never before seen. Through the images, the exhibit narrates the history of Charles Chaplin- the actor and public figure-, from the creation of the character Charlot through the end of his career.

The exhibit Chaplin in Images helps us to understand how Charlot’s personality was formed, his transformation, his particular body expressions and his unmistakable complements (cane, vest, moustache, shoes and bowler hat) which ended representing for themselves the essence of the character. Charlot was not only the small sad vagabond, solitary and profoundly humane which has remained in the public's memory. On the contrary, the Charlot that was seen for the first time on screen, in 1914, was a crude and disagreeable carácter.

Chaplin was one of the first artists to acquire great success in the media, his closeness to the public converted him into a very loved character and an icon of the 20th century. Some artists of the vanguard such as Fernand Leger represented Charlot on several occasions and served also as a cover of many magazines of the time. The magnitude of his fame was such that , to Chaplin’s own surprise, the largest stores in New York filled up with toys and figures that represented his image.

At the same time as his facet as actor, Chaplin was also acclaimed as a film producer. Chaplin’s preoccupation to strive for perfection in his work is evidenced in the documents which show the steps in the elaboration of a scene and open up the creation of a gag or the choreography of a movement.

At the climax of his career, Chaplin opted to compromise and starting in the 1930s his films regularly included a social critique and introduced reflections on the contemporary world. In Lights of the City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936) he criticizes the American way of life and at the end of The Great Dictator (1941) he sends a message of hope and peace.

In 1952, on the boat that took him to England, Chaplin found out that he would not be given a new American visa. From then on he lived in Switzerland with Oona, his last wife, and his eight children, until his death on December 25, 1977.
Chaplin is without a doubt, one of the best artists of the big screen. In this exhibition we assist to the birth of a star, we travel throughout his life and look back with nostalgia at the end of his career.

This exhibition is a production by NBC Photographie, Paris, with the support of The Chaplin Archives and the assistance of Jeu de Paume, Paris, the Kunsthal in Rotterdam and the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg. It is curated by Sam Stourdze, the author of Charlie Chaplin.

The exhibition has been staged at CaixaForum Barcelona and will subsequently be put on at CaixaForum Palma and the Social and Cultural Centre of Fundació ”la Caixa” in Tarragona. The selection exhibited offers a portrait of this legendary figure, and takes visitors on a tour of his career as an artist through visual materials, arranged in five chapters: The Character, The Film-Maker, Fame, Commitment and Discourse, all as seen through photographs, films, stills, plays, objects, magazines from his own day.