Walker Evans

signed by the photographer in pencil and dated and inscribed 'Antibes' by him in ink on the reverse, matted, 1927

The Estate of Walker Evans

Acquired by Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York, from the above, 1984

Acquired by Sander Gallery, New York, from the above, 1984

Private Collectors, Chicago

Sotheby's New York, Photographs Between the World Wars, 26 April 1989, Sale 5839, Lot 211

Acquired by the present owner from the above

Other prints of this image:

John T. Hill, Walker Evans at Work (New York, 1982), p. 18

Jeff L. Rosenheim, Maria Morris Hambourg, Douglas Eklund, and Mia Fineman, Walker Evans (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 1

This early, warm-toned print on matte-surface paper is in generally very good condition. The corners are lightly bumped, and the emulsion appears to be lifting at the tip of the lower left corner. There is a series of tiny indentations in the lower right quadrant which break the emulsion. In raking light, the following can be seen: a 3/4-inch sharp handling crease at the lower right edge, and a faint 1/2-inch crease in the upper left portion. Close examination reveals a tiny warm-toned spot of discoloration in the upper left corner. There is light age-appropriate silvering in the dark areas. None of these issues is immediately apparent, nor do they detract from the overwhelmingly fine appearance of the print. On the reverse, there are fingerprints and a few very small rust colored stains in the center that do not affect the image.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This silhouette self-portrait is from a small group of similar studies done by Evans during his expatriate sojourn in France in the 1920s.  The 23-year-old Evans had traveled to Paris in 1926 to pursue his goal of becoming a writer, taking along with him a new folding 'vest-pocket' camera.  He faltered in his efforts to enter into the cultural life of Paris; and although his literary ambitions were never fully realized, it was during his time in France that Evans did his first serious work with a camera.

Antibes is one of several similar photographs Evans made of his shadow on a wall in the French resort town of Juan-les-Pins, in the commune of Antibes, where he traveled in the spring of 1927 (cf. Walker Evans at Work, p. 18) . Evans authority Jeff Rosenheim locates two other early prints of the image offered here.  One of these, a small contact print, was included in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's retrospective exhibition, Walker Evans, in 2000. 

Maria Morris Hambourg has noted that Evans's self-portraits from this period are consonant with the young photographer's isolation from the many expatriates who also made their home in France in the 1920s.  She writes, 'as often as not Evans's subject was himself: his lodgings, his ghostly presence at the window of this Paris boardinghouse, his shadow thrown on the wall by the low winter sun in Juan-les-Pins.  Rarely exploring the world with his camera, he used it instead as a witness, as if to prove that his solitary year abroad, so important intellectually, had actually had a physical dimension' (Walker Evans, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, pp. 12-13).