Lot 39
  • 39

Edward Steichen 1879-1973

Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 USD
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Description

  • Edward Steichen
  • JOHN BARRYMORE AS HAMLET
warm-toned, mounted to a slightly larger sheet of photographic paper, flush-mounted again to board, the photographer's 'Photograph by Steichen, Vanity Fair Studio, 80 West 40th Street, New York' studio stamp on the reverse, 1922

Literature

Other prints of this image:

Steichen the Photographer (The Museum of Modern Art, 1961), p. 42

Edward Steichen, A Life in Photography (The Museum of Modern Art, 1963), pl. 113

Penelope Niven, Steichen: A Biography (New York, 1977), unpaginated 

Catalogue Note

A member of the illustrious theatrical family, John Barrymore was garnering rave reviews on Broadway for his portrayal of Hamlet when Steichen made this portrait in late 1922.  Barrymore acted in the role for 101 performances - one more than Edwin Booth's 1864-65 season portrayal - and in 1925 took his Hamlet to London. 

At this writing, no other early prints of this image are believed to have been offered at auction.