Peter Marbury, an East Moriches artist known for his abstract sculptures and for his set designs for the Hampton Theatre Company in Quogue, died on February 28. According to family members, the sculptor was killed in an accident while riding his motorcycle on a racetrack in Sarasota, Florida. He was 70.
Mr. Marbury’s life will be commemorated during a memorial service scheduled for noon on Saturday, June 6, at the Quogue Community Hall on Jessup Avenue. Among those making presentations about Mr. Marbury will be his son, Sebastian. The 34-year-old East Moriches resident said his father lived life the same way he drove his motorcycle—at full throttle and willing to take dangerous turns as they came along.
“I’ll say the manner of his death made sense to me,” Sebastian said, noting that his robust father had no stomach for the idea of one day becoming old and feeble. “I don’t mean to say the way he died was great or beautiful but, at the same time, I get it,” he said. “This is his story, and I think we should all be so fortunate to fearlessly follow our hearts, on our journey, the way he did.”
Mr. Marbury’s friends and family all observed one gleaming achievement of the artist—that he was a self-made man. His wife, Diana, said her husband taught himself challenging tasks that most people would flee from, including learning how to successfully deliver the couple’s three children in the family’s East Moriches home.
“He was my best friend, and I trusted him more than I trusted anybody,” Ms. Marbury said, explaining that Mr. Marbury learned all about birthing from books he read. “I trusted him even more than I trusted a medical professional when it came to delivering our children.”
Ms. Marbury said her husband would often take out books from the library and, through his own initiative, learn to master many skills. He even taught himself to build and renovate hot rods and motorcycles, which were two of his passions.
“If you were stranded on a deserted island, Peter is somebody you would want to have with you,” Ms. Marbury added. “He just knew how to do everything. You felt safe with him.”
Mr. Marbury learned to create cast bronze sculptures by reading books and experimenting with molten metal in a small crucible and kiln in his backyard. Many of his pieces have a kinetic aspect and feature wispy lengths of thin metal rods with various geometric shapes attached to the ends designed to catch the wind and turn in the breeze.
His wife noted that the spinning appendages of each piece were made to look as though the twirling arms are precariously balanced atop their lofty mounts.
“But Peter took great care to make certain that they were safe,” she said, noting that various outdoor sculptures have survived their share of hurricanes and nor’easters. “The wonderful thing about these types of sculptures is that you don’t have to walk around them to appreciate all sides, which you typically have to do with a stationary sculpture. They do the moving for you.”
During a taped interview in the early 1990s with Ellen de Pazzi, a fellow Hamptons Center artist and public access television talk show host, Mr. Marbury spoke of his exploits in casting bronze as being in the realm of ancient alchemists, who were often considered witches by medieval Christians for transforming the properties of metal.
“It is a black art,” Mr. Marbury said as he smiled wryly during the interview. “You’re melting bronze at 2,300 degrees, so it’s actually a pretty warm kettle of stew.”
Sebastian said his father enjoyed the process of creating works of art more than the finished pieces. He noted that works were sold, given away or simply discarded by his father without much thought.
“It was playing with the metal, and seeing what developed, that he enjoyed,” Sebastian said of his father. “That’s how he approached art; that’s how he approached life.”
Mr. Marbury’s bronze pouring became a theatrical event for some local residents. His wife, the artistic director of the Hampton Theatre Company, noted that dozens of friends, family and neighbors would flock to the backyard for the fiery display, which was typically done during the night to accentuate the glow of the molten metal.
She recalled the first time that her husband’s parents came to see one of his bronze pourings: “At first they were almost sitting on top of him—watching,” she said, chuckling. “But as things progressed, and got hotter and hotter, they just kept moving their chairs back farther, and farther, and farther.”
Sebastian noted that his father was not one for spectacle and would sometimes do his bronze pouring alone, despite the obvious dangers. Family and friends all agreed that Mr. Marbury was never one to seek fame or fortune.
Ms. Marbury, who was one of the first actors to work with the Hampton Theatre Company after its founding in 1984, admitted that her husband was at first reluctant to venture into the world of theater arts.
One of the company’s founders, Jimmy Ewing of Water Mill, worked side by side with Mr. Marbury on sets for various productions over the past quarter century and became a close friend. He described his backstage colleague as a man of few words, though he possessed an inner strength and calmness that spoke volumes.
Mr. Ewing noted that the two would often work long hours together and barely exchange a word. Instead, the friends relied on a strange synergy, which enabled each to understand what the other needed without asking for any clarification, according to Mr Ewing.
He also admitted to relying on Mr. Marbury’s signature calmness and innovative creative thinking to address set design problems. Mr. Ewing commended his friend as a man of commitment, who never shirked his responsibilities, no matter how late the hour.
“I could always depend on him to be there,” said Mr. Ewing, who stated solemnly that there is a new silence in his life following Mr. Marbury’s death three months ago.
“It’s a big presence,” he continued, his voice cracking with emotion. “I didn’t need to put on any pretenses with Peter. It was just an easy, comfortable place that you don’t find with many people. I miss him enormously. He was one of my best friends.”
Peter Marbury is survived by his wife, Diana; their three children, Sebastian, Sean and Sascha; five grandchildren, Madeline-Rose, Finley, Rowan, Eliah and Jensen; and a brother, Paul Marbury of California.
Mr. Marbury was cremated and, according to his son, the ashes were scattered in the family garden. “Maybe we’ll plant some vegetables ...,” his son Sean mused.
on May 27, 2009