Barbara Morgan

flush-mounted to Masonite, with the photographer's '120 High Point Road, Scarsdale, N. Y., 10583' studio label, signed, titled, and dated in ink, on the reverse, framed, a Whitney Museum of American Art exhibition label on the reverse, 1940

The photographer to a private collector, late 1980s

 Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica

Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

Irving Galleries, Palm Beach, 2000

 

New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, The American Century: Art and Culture 1900-2000, April - August 1999

Barbara Morgan (Aperture, 1964), unpaginated

Barbara Morgan (Aperture, 1999), cover

Curtis L. Carter and William C. Agee, Barbara Morgan: Prints, Drawings, Watercolors & Photographs (Marquette University, 1988), pl. 71

This beautiful and pleasingly warm-toned early print, on paper with a faint surface sheen, is in generally excellent condition. Faint silvering is visible in the upper right corner of the print. In raking light, several tiny, soft impressions are barely visible in the lower right quadrant. Also visible in raking light are 2 small raised areas in the lower right and upper left quadrant, likely particles trapped between the print and the mount during drymounting. A few small deposits of original retouching are visible overall. The Masonite mount is somewhat worn at the edges on the reverse. The photographer's studio label on the reverse of the mount is dated 'printed in 1940' and annotated '422 (NOT).' On the reverse of the mount are linen tape hinge remnants along the upper and lower edges. When examined under ultraviolet light, this print does not appear to fluoresce.
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.

The photograph offered here is an early print of what is arguably the most famous dance image of the twentieth century.   Martha Graham’s ballet, Letter to the World, premiered at Bennington College in 1940; it took its title from an Emily Dickinson poem which begins, ‘This is my letter to the World/ That never wrote to me.’  Barbara Morgan photographed the dancers in her studio, as they executed selected movements that Morgan called ‘instants of combustion.’  In its perfection of lighting, its deft capture of the floating costume, and its evocation of Graham’s arrested, fluid motion, the photograph is synonymous not only with Letter to the World, but also with the world of modern dance.