Irving Penn

platinum-palladium print, flush-mounted to aluminum, signed, titled, dated, editioned '38/40,' and annotated in pencil and stamped on the reverse, framed, a Corkin Gallery, Toronto, label on the reverse, 1950, printed in 1977

Irving Penn: Photographs in Platinum Metals – Images 1947-1975 (New York: Marlborough Gallery, 1977), unpaginated

John Szarkowski, Irving Penn (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1984), pl. 54

Irving Penn, Passage: A Work Record (New York, 1991), p. 85

Colin Westerbeck, ed., Irving Penn: A Career in Photography (The Art Institute of Chicago, 1997), pl. 35

Sarah Greenough, Irving Penn: Platinum Prints (Washington, D. C.: National Gallery of Art, 2005), cover and pl. 20

This print is in generally excellent condition. The margin is faintly darkened at the perimeter of the image, and the edges are very slightly soiled. The reverse of the mount is very lightly soiled, and there are strips of linen tape along the lower and right edges. The reverse is annotated in pencil: 'BF 360 paper on aluminum,' 'multiple coating and printing,' '(1) platinum (2) platinum-palladium,' 'print made August - September 1977,' and '31.' The edition stamp on the reverse indicates that in addition to the 40 numbered prints in platinum, there may also exist no more than 25 unnumbered, but signed, gelatin silver prints. The Condé Nast copyright stamp is dated in pencil '1950.'
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.
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