Irving Penn
1948 (negative), 1991 (print)
Gelatin silver print on paper, selenium toned.
Image: 22 3/8 x 19 5/16 inches (56.8 x 49 cm); sheet: 23 7/8 x 19 15/16 inches (60.6 x 50.7 cm)
Purchased as the gift of Richard L. Menschel and with the support of The Horace W. Goldsmith Fund for Americana and The Margaret T. Morris Fund.
2007.67
Provenance:
Irving Penn.
Inscription:
Verso: signed in graphite and stamped in black ink, center [encircled]: Irving Penn / IRVING PENN; inscribed in graphite, upper left: REF: 7658..; inscribed in graphite, upper center [in rectangular border]: GEORGIA O'KEEFFE / NEW YORK, JAN. 31, 1948; inscribed in graphite, center left: Print made 1991. / I.P.; stamped in black ink, center left: TONED IN SELENIUM; stamped in black ink and inscribed in graphite, lower center: PHOTOGRAPH BY IRVING PENN / Copyright © 1984 by Irving Penn / Courtesy of Vogue / Not to be reproduced without / written permission of / photographer.; stamped in black ink and inscribed in graphite, lower right: There are also in existence 5 prints / of this negative in platinum metals. / I.P.; stamped in black ink and inscribed in graphite, lower center: SIGNED, SILVER PRINTS OF / THIS NEGATIVE NOT EXCEEDING 10. / I.P.; inscribed in black ink, lower center: Print made near to date of / sitting. / I.P.
Notes:
Edition of 10. Among the highlights of Penn's portraits made for Vogue are the photographs of celebrities he took in his studio in the late 1940s. Having constructed a temporary corner out of movable walls, he directed his sitters to inhabit the space in whatever manner they chose. This confinement heightened the psychological intensity of the portraits. Georgia O'Keeffe seems to retreat into the corner, her figure dwarfed by the converging panels. She hated the result and wrote to Penn asking him to destroy the negative.
Object entered collection with slight dent on right side of sheet, parallel to figure's shoulder
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