White Angel Breadline, one of Dorothea Lange’s most compelling images, has become a definitive representation of the human toll taken by the Depression. This photograph pre-dates her work for the Resettlement Administration (later the Farm Security Administration), and set the template for the humanistic approach she continued to pursue throughout her career.

In 1933, Lange operated her own portrait studio in San Francisco and catered to an affluent clientele. As she recounted many times, however, she could not ignore the growing number of newly unemployed people in the city, and she took to the street, camera in hand, to explore the situation. One early outing brought her to a breadline operated by a wealthy woman, known as the White Angel, who dispensed food to those in need. Lange exposed three negatives there, with her 3 ¼-by-4 ½ Graflex camera, each taken from a slightly different vantage point. The image offered here is the definitive one from this series and has become emblematic of human resilience in troubled times.

The photographs in Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection, Part Two were in the photographer’s collection at the time of her death and thenceforth passed to her descendants. The images represent the entirety of Lange’s career as one of the foremost documentary photographers of the 20th century, from work made before her engagement with the Resettlement Administration, later the Farm Security Administration, in the 1930s, to the travel photography that absorbed her in her final years, as well as more personal images of her family. Each print bears a Family Collection stamp on the reverse.
- Provenance
  Collection of Dorothea Lange
  By descent to the present owners
- Literature
  John Szarkowski, The Museum of Modern Art, Dorothea Lange, p. 20
  Robert Coles and Therese Heyman, Dorothea Lange: Photographs of a Lifetime, p. 45
  Keith Davis, The Photographs of Dorothea Lange, p. 21
  Sarah Hermanson Meister, Dorothea Lange: Words & Pictures, p. 27
  Pierre Borhan, Dorothea Lange: The Heart and Mind of a Photographer, p. 71
  Therese Heyman, John Szarkowski, and Sandra Phillips, Dorothea Lange: American Photographs, pl. 77
  Judith Keller, In Focus: Dorothea Lange, Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum, pl. 4
  Naomi Rosenblum, Sally Stein, et al., Dorothea Lange: The Human Face, p. 45
  Elizabeth Partridge, Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange, p. 41
  Anne Whiston Spirn, Daring to Look: Dorothea Lange's Photographs and Reports from the Field, p. 16
  Oliva María Rubio, Dorothea Lange: The Crucial Years, 1930-1946, pl. 11
  Linda Gordon, Dorothea Lange: Aperture Masters of Photography, p. 12
  Mike Venezia, Dorothea Lange, p. 23

Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection, Part Two

6

Dorothea Lange

White Angel Breadline, San Francisco

1933
Gelatin silver print, printed later.
9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (24.1 x 19.1 cm)
‘1163 Euclid Avenue, Berkeley, California’ credit stamp and a family collection stamp on the verso.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$15,000 - 25,000

Sold for $40,640

Contact Specialist

Christopher Mahoney
Senior International Specialist
cmahoney@phillips.com

Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Deputy Chairwoman

vhallett@phillips.com

Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection, Part Two - Online Auction

29 March - 5 April 2023

1
Dorothea Lange
Migratory Cotton Pickers, Eloy, Arizona
Estimate $7,000 - 9,000
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2
Dorothea Lange
Alabama
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $5,080
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3
Dorothea Lange
Paul S. Taylor with Farmer
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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4
Dorothea Lange
Hand of a Young Daughter, Transplanting Sweet Potatoes, Tenant Farmers, Near Chatham, North Carolina
Estimate $7,000 - 9,000
Sold for $8,890
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5
Dorothea Lange
Street Demonstration, San Francisco (Down with Sales Tax)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,810
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6
Dorothea Lange
White Angel Breadline, San Francisco
Estimate $15,000 - 25,000
Sold for $40,640
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7
Dorothea Lange
Police Officer on Horseback
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
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8
Dorothea Lange
Demonstration San Francisco (Man Holding Flag)
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000
Sold for $8,255
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9
Dorothea Lange
Hill Woman, Missouri Ozarks
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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10
Dorothea Lange
Greenville, Mississippi
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $5,080
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11
Dorothea Lange
Killing Time, American South
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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12
Dorothea Lange
Migrant Worker at Rest
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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13
Dorothea Lange
Queenie, North Carolina
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
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14
Dorothea Lange
Portrait of a Young Man in Open Denim Shirt
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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15
Dorothea Lange
Corn, 1 Cent
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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16
Dorothea Lange
Job Seekers, San Francisco
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,810
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17
Dorothea Lange
Woman with Paper Bag
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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18
Dorothea Lange
Woman in Polka-Dot Dress
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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19
Dorothea Lange
Buy War Bonds (Lincoln)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,556
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20
Dorothea Lange
Soldiers Killed in Action
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,810
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21
Dorothea Lange
Serving Our Country
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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22
Dorothea Lange
Townsend
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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23
Dorothea Lange
Women Workers, Richmond Shipyard
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000
Sold for $7,620
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24
Dorothea Lange
Night Worker’s Sign, Richmond, California
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $5,080
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25
Dorothea Lange
Woman in Trailor Camp, Richmond, California
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000
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26
Dorothea Lange
South Dakota Church
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
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27
Dorothea Lange
Horses in Stable, from Three Mormon Towns
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $5,080
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28
Dorothea Lange
Two Women Arm in Arm, Toquerville, Utah, from Three Mormon Towns
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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29
Dorothea Lange
Mrs. Neagle on Porch, Toquerville, Utah, from Three Mormon Towns
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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30
Dorothea Lange
Mrs. Beatty, Toquerville, Utah, from Three Mormon Towns
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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31
Dorothea Lange
Jack Jones, Utah, from Three Mormon Towns
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $7,620
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32
Dorothea Lange
Couple Seated on Porch, Gunlock, Utah, from Three Mormon Towns
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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33
Dorothea Lange
Oak Tree, Euclid Avenue, Berkeley
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,810
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34
Dorothea Lange
Helen and Gregor
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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35
Dorothea Lange
Second Born, Berkeley
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
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36
Dorothea Lange
Grandchild with Flag, Steep Ravine
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,810
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37
Dorothea Lange
Two Men Talking on the Street (Oakland or Richmond, California)
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
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38
Dorothea Lange
Man Stepping on Curb, from Ballet
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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39
Dorothea Lange
Park Bench with Mother and Pram, New York City
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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40
Dorothea Lange
Two Men and a Woman on a Street Car
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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41
Dorothea Lange
Parents with Young Son
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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42
Dorothea Lange
Campaign Sign for Senator Thomas Henry Kuchel
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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43
Dorothea Lange
Road Sign, Divided Highway Ahead
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $2,540
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44
Dorothea Lange
Stop Sign
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $2,540
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45
Dorothea Lange
Boy against a Peat Wall, Ireland
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,810
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46
Dorothea Lange
Boy and Two Men, Ireland
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,810
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47
Dorothea Lange
Mother and Child, Vietnam
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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48
Dorothea Lange
Palestinian Child
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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49
Dorothea Lange
Vietnam
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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50
Dorothea Lange
Pakistani Youth, Karachi
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
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Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection, Part Two...

29 March - 5 April 2023

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Provenance

Literature

6

Dorothea Lange

White Angel Breadline, San Francisco

Dorothea Lange: The Family Collection, Part Two - Online Auction

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