Clarence H. White

waxed platinum print, mounted to tissue, signed by the photographer in pencil on the mount, matted, framed, circa 1906

Property of a Private Collector, Illinois

Sotheby's New York, 10 November 1986, Sale 5510, Lot 406

Acquired by the present owner from the above

This warm-toned platinum print is on heavy paper with a lush matte surface. The deft handling of the light which crowns Stieglitz's head and the print's rich dark values demonstrate White's expert skill as a printer in platinum. The photograph is in generally excellent condition, the most noticeable issue being a small raised disruption in the print's surface in the upper portion of the image (visible in the catalogue illustration) with a tiny puncture at its center. There are approximately a half dozen very tiny white deposits of an indeterminate nature visible on the print's surface, primarily concentrated in the lower left quadrant at the bottom of the image and, as visible in the catalogue illustration, by the subject's nose. These issues do not undermine the fine appearance of this photograph. The photograph is mounted to very thin, translucent tissue. This is torn near the upper right corner of the print. Losses in the upper and lower right corners of the tissue mount suggest that it was originally affixed to a secondary mount.
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 striking portrait of Alfred Stieglitz by fellow Photo-Secessionist Clarence White was likely taken in 1906, the same year that White was a featured photographer in the inaugural exhibition of The Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession in New York.  Masterfully executed, this study of his friend and mentor demonstrates White's talents as a portraitist.  His skillful handling of the light, which outlines Stieglitz's wily hair and stern profile, is unconventional but extremely effective.  It is a contemplative rendering of a man who was, by turns, passionate in his efforts to promote photography as a fine art and volatile in reaction to those he felt stood against him.  As of this writing, only one other print of this image has been located: a platinum print in the Clarence H. White Collection at the Princeton University Art Museum.   

In 1909, Stieglitz and White collaborated on a series of photographic studies of Mabel Cramer and, most famously, a Miss Thompson.  These portraits, nudes, and figure studies (four of which were reproduced in Camera Work No. 27) show the extent to which the photographers were allied aesthetically and technically.  A few of these prints were marked with a monogram that consisted of both the photographers' initials.  This was the only time in Stieglitz's career that he collaborated formally with another photographer.  In 1912, the two quarreled about the direction of the Photo-Secession and their friendship ended. 

Stieglitz had first encountered White's photographs in 1898 while acting as a juror at the Philadelphia Salon.  The two photographers met in person when White traveled to New York City in the fall of that year, thus beginning a friendship that lasted into the first decade of the 20^th century.  In 1899, Stieglitz arranged a solo exhibition for White at the Camera Club of New York, and he reproduced White's images as photogravures in issues of both Camera Notes and Camera Work.  Stieglitz's respect for the younger photographer was such that White's photographs comprised a significant portion of Stieglitz's personal collection, now in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Born and raised in Newark, Ohio, Clarence White began photographing in 1893. Despite his lack of official training in art or photography, he was already internationally known by the turn of the century.  He participated in numerous important exhibitions, including F. Holland Day's New School of American Photography in London (1900) and the seminal International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography in Buffalo (1910).  In 1902, White was a founding member of Stieglitz's Photo-Secession, a group united by the common goal of elevating the status of photography.  His work was featured the following year in Camera Work Number 3.  In 1904, White moved to New York, then the center of American photography, to pursue photography on a full-time basis. Shortly thereafter he was offered a position as lecturer of photography at Teacher's College, Columbia University.  He went on to found the Clarence H. White School of Photography in New York in 1914, which became an important training ground for some of the twentieth century's best-known photographers, including Paul Outerbridge, Margaret Bourke-White, Dorothea Lange, Karl Struss, and Doris Ulmann.