Ralph Steiner

mounted, 1925; accompanied by the original overmat, signed in pencil

Swann Galleries, 24 April 1996, Sale 1723, Lot 336

This early contact print is in generally excellent condition. The black margin edges and corners are slightly bumped and worn. The mount is age-darkened at the edges and on the reverse. There are abrasions at the upper corners of the mount from the removal of the overmat. The mount corners are bumped. The accompanying original overmat is signed by the photographer in pencil. It is age-darkened, particularly at the edges, and there is a faint 2-1/4-inch tideline at the lower right edge. 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.

Later an award-winning film maker, Ralph Steiner, like Margaret Bourke-White and Paul Outerbridge, began his career in photography as a student of the Clarence White School.  In the 1920s, he produced a number of imaginatively conceived, skillfully cropped photographs, of which the present image is one. These cityscapes, landscapes, and still lifes might be mistaken as documentary in nature, but for Steiner's original and often witty eye. Like his signature image, American Rural Baroque, the photograph offered here is perhaps best described as lyric documentary.  In Clotheslines, Steiner blends the chaos of urban clotheslines into a vibrant, and almost abstract, composition.

Steiner's work was included in the important Film und Foto exhibition in Stuttgart in 1929, but he then turned to film making, working with Paul Strand, among others, and winning acclaim for such films as the experimental H20 of 1929 and The City of 1939. 

The photograph offered here is a rare early print of an image that Steiner later chose for his retrospective portfolio, Twenty-Two Little Contact Prints from 1921-1929 Negatives.

“The occupants of these tenements had the Third Avenue El roaring past their front rooms and these rhythmic clotheslines across their rear rooms. I hope at least one housewife got pleasure from the Johann Sebastian clothesline harmonies.”

Ralph Steiner, 1981