Waterston Tapestry
1946
Vintage Signed Photograph
Matted 16x20, Image 9 1/2 x 12 3/8
Estate Inventory IC 207 on back of Matte,
Per notes in Padriac’s handwriting
(enclosed in frame)
Oversize, VERY RARE, image not published

Frank Pictures Gallery opens Imogen Cunningham, Vintage and Signed Photographs, on November 19 2011. The exhibition featuring rare photographs Cunningham shot and printed herself at the time of their conception, spans her enduring and miraculous seven decade career, resulting in some of the most outstanding contributions to fine art photography. Even though her first love was portraiture, Imogen Cunningham is most known for her stunning close-ups of flowers and her uncensored celebration of the human form. A sensualist, Cunningham pushed boundaries, both as an artist and a woman. No stranger to the scandal her images evoked, she constantly defied limits. Imogen Cunningham was born in Portland, Oregan, on April 12, 1883. One of her first photographs was a 1906 nude self-portrait, taken on an isolated spot on the UW campus with a 4"x5" mail-order camera. Cunningham established her own studio in 1910, becoming one of the very first professional woman photographers. She encouraged other women to join her, publishing an article in 1913 titled "Photography as a Profession for Women". On February 11, 1915, Cunningham married Roi Partridge, an artist himself and an artistic collaboration between them flourished. Together, they enjoyed exploring the local nature terrain and especially that of Mount Rainier, where she engaged him as a model in an extended series of the nude in the wilderness. The publication of these images created a local scandal and invited so much ridicule that Cunningham retired the negatives for more that fifty years. In 1932, Imogen Cunningham, Ansel Adams, Edward Westin, and others, founded Group f/64, which promoted photography and helped to establish photography as an art form. The name of the group, derived from the smallest aperture available on a large format camera, implies images of the greatest depth of focus and sharpest detail. Imogen Cunningham continued to take pictures until shortly before her death at age 93 on June 24, 1976 in San Francisco, California.

Clouds I
1939
Signed Photograph
Matted 14x18, Image 7 3/8 x 9 7/16
Estate Inventory IC45 on back of Matte,
Shot in Hume, West Virginia, only two
photos of clouds were printed from this series.

In The Alabamas
1924
Vintage Signed Photograph
Matted 20x16, Image 10 1/2 x 9 7/8
Estate Inventory IC 219 on back of Matte
*An important piece in Cunningham’s career, this photograph marks the transition from pictorial work to her later work.
-printed on a yellow stock, no use of sepia tone

Carey Grant
1931
Signed Photograph
Matted 14x18, Image 9 1/8 x 7 5/8
Estate Inventory IC 15 on back of Matte.
*Originally done for Vanity Fair as part of Cunningham's "Ugly Men” series of Hollywood stars. When asked by Vanity Fair what she wanted to photograph,
she replied, “Ugly Men”

Edward Weston & Margareth Mather
1923
Signed Photograph
Matted 18x14, Image 9 1/2 x 7 1/2
Estate Inventory IC 384 on back of Matte

Signal Hill
1928
Signed Photograph
Matted 14x16, Image 9 1/8 x 7 5/8
Estate Inventory IC 441 on back of Matte,
Later life print (backing board from Oakland
Museum Exhibit inserted in frame.)
*Signal Hill is in Long Beach, CA

The Partridge Boy
1923
Signed Photograph
Matted 14x18, Image 7 1/2 x 6 1/2,
From Estate of Padraic Partridge, Per notes in
Padraic’s handwriting (enclosed in frame) Item Acquired by Padraic in trade with Gryffid Patridge.

Three Harps
1935
Signed Photograph
UnMatted 14x18, Image 7 1/2 x 9 1/2
type written title on Green Street label on original mounting board. Matte is not from the artist
- added to protect print from contact with frame.
*One negative overlayed 3x to produced this image

Rock Form from Point Lobos
1968
Signed Photograph
Matted 14x18, Image 8 1/8 x 7 3/4
Estate Inventory IC 291 on back of Matte

Rock Wall & Face
1967
Signed Photograph
Matted 14x18, Image 6 7/8 x 7 1/2
Estate Inventory IC 171 on back of Matte
A face is shown in the rock surface from the double exposure of negatives.

Reflection At Sudbury Hill
1960
Signed Photograph
Matted 16x20, Image 10 3/8 x 10 1/2
Estate Inventory IC 141 on back of Matte with
type written title on Green Street label

Chris
1972
Signed Photograph
Matted 16x20, Image 8 x 9,
Estate Inventory IC 273 on back of Matte with type written title on Green Street label.
*one of her “Accidental Imogens”

Language of Love
1910
Signed Photograph
Matted 16x20, Image 7 3/4 x 11
Estate Inventory IC 372 on back of Matte with type written title on Green Street label.
From her early Pictorial period, before 1915.

\
Shack By The Road
date unknown
Unsigned Photograph
Matted 14 x 18, Image 7 3/8 x 9 1/4
Per notes in Padriac’s handwriting
(enclosed in fram) this is a ferrotype
prepared by Imogen prior to publication of the image. ONE OF A KIND

\
Martha Graham, Dancer
1931
Signed Photograph
Matted 14x18, Image 8 x 6,
Estate Inventory IC 33 on back of Matte
series of 108 images, originally done for Vanity Fair, this image was never published.
Martha Grahm tried to block publication entirely by suing Cunningham and Vanity Fair.

Imogen met Martha Graham in 1931 at a dinner party in Santa Barbara, California. Agreeing to a photo session, Imogen took photographs of Martha Graham in Southern California. Brilliantly lit by the sun and set against the backdrop of a dark, open barn door, Imogen produced ninety Graflex negatives of Martha Graham in one afternoon. This photo session resulted in the first of a series Imogen had printed in Vanity Fair in the December, 1931 issue.

Snake (Negative)
1929
Signed Photograph
Matted 16x20, Image 8 3/4 x 11 1/8
Estate Inventory IC 105 on back of Matte
with type written title on Green Street label
Photograph depicts CfPadriac’s pet snake and was printed with a glass plate.

Ansel Adams, Photographer
1953
Signed Photograph
Matted 16x20, Image 9 3/8 x 13 1/8
Estate Inventory IC 129 on back of Matte
with type written title on Green Street label.
Ansel Adams was part of f/64 which
Cunningham also was a member of.

Protea
1940’s
Signed Photograph
Matted 16x20, Image 9 3/4 x 13,
Estate Inventory IC 519 on back of Matte with type written title on separate label.

On The Mountain
1915
Signed Photograph
Matted 16x20, Image 8 3/4 x 11 1/2
Estate Inventory IC 429 on back of Matte
with type written title on Gren Street label

Cruciata
1929
Signed Photograph
Later Print - After 1946, Matted 16x20,
Image 9 1/4 x 11 1/2,
Estate Inventory IC 486 on back of Matte with type written title on Green Street label.
Image shown is a plant often referred to as “The Crown of Thorns”

Loren - Solarized
1959
Vintage Signed Photograph
Matted 14x18, Image 7 1/8 x 9 1/4
Estate Inventory IC 63 on back of Matte
*Loren, depicted here is the daughter of Gryffid Patridge.

Plant Form - Bromiliad
1920’s
Vintage Signed Photograph
Matted 14x18, Image 5 1/2 x 8,
Estate Inventory IC 423 on back of Matte Signed on reverse with photographer’s notes in pencil and photographer’s
annotation on print.

Cruciata
1929
Vintage Signed Photograph
Matted 14x18, Image 3 3/8 x 4 1/2
Estate Inventory IC 537 on back of Matte,
Signed on verso with photographer’s notes in pencil.
-contact print.

Fence In Mendocino
1971
Vintage Signed Photograph
Matted 14x18, Image 8 5/8 x 9 3/8
Estate Inventory IC 521 on back of Matte with type written title on Green Street Label

Spines
1925
Signed Photo
Matted 14x18, Image 6 1/2 x 9 1/8
Estate Inventory IC 282 on back of Matte

Agave
1920’s
Vintage Signed Photograph
Matted 14x18, Image 7 1/2 x 9 3/4
Estate Inventory IC 183 on back of Matte,
Handwritten note by Padriac,
print dated by signature style
“very early signature”

Unmade Bed
1957
Signed Photograph
Matted 20x15, Image 13 1/2 x 10 5/8

Nude
1932
Vintage Signed Photograph
Matted 16x20, Image 6 7/8 x 5
Per notes in Padriac’s handwriting (enclosed in frame) Item acquired by Padriac Partridge in 1949 through an open marked purchase.

 

 

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