28
Irving Penn
Girl in Bath (Jean Patchett), New York
- Estimate
- £50,000 - 70,000
£118,750
Lot Details
Gelatin silver print, mounted.
25 April 1950
39.3 x 48.1 cm (15 1/2 x 18 7/8 in.)
Signed, initialled, annotated, titled, dated in ink, Condé Nast copyright credit reproduction limitation and edition stamps on the reverse of the mount. One from an edition of 6.
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Catalogue Essay
Girl in Bath (Jean Patchett) was first published in the June 1950 issue of Vogue in a spread entitled ‘90 Day Plan: Reading and Records’. The article, by Allene Talmey, uses this photograph to illustrate pairs of reading and listening suggestions, such as Albert Schweitzer’s theology with Bach’s Cello Suites, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Crack Up with Gershwin records, or reading T.S. Eliot alongside recordings of his poetry.
Irving Penn is known for his use of light and his stark simplicity. For the current lot, Jean Patchett is backlit as she lies in a white bath, which is level with a white stool and set within white walls and white tiled floors. The gramophone, the tap with washcloth, the drink, the book, and the model herself are silhouetted against the light streaming out from behind, creating a serene, elegant ambience and an ideal bathing experience. The simple lines against the gleaming white highlight the details of the scene: her hand at her clavicle and her reflection against the wall, the cord of the gramophone as it snakes its way across the floor, and the light coming through the translucent soap bottle. Printed shortly after the negative date in an edition of six, this is the first time a print from the edition has appeared at auction.
Irving Penn is known for his use of light and his stark simplicity. For the current lot, Jean Patchett is backlit as she lies in a white bath, which is level with a white stool and set within white walls and white tiled floors. The gramophone, the tap with washcloth, the drink, the book, and the model herself are silhouetted against the light streaming out from behind, creating a serene, elegant ambience and an ideal bathing experience. The simple lines against the gleaming white highlight the details of the scene: her hand at her clavicle and her reflection against the wall, the cord of the gramophone as it snakes its way across the floor, and the light coming through the translucent soap bottle. Printed shortly after the negative date in an edition of six, this is the first time a print from the edition has appeared at auction.
Provenance
Literature
Irving Penn
American | B. 1917 D. 2009Irving Penn was one of the 20th century’s most significant photographers, known for his arresting images, technical mastery, and quiet intensity. Though he gained widespread acclaim as a leading Vogue photographer for over sixty years, Penn remained a private figure devoted to his craft. Trained under legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch in Philadelphia, he began his career assisting at Harper’s Bazaar before joining Vogue in 1943, where editor and artist Alexander Liberman recognized Penn’s distinctive eye and encouraged him to pursue photography. Penn’s incomparably elegant fashion studies reset the standard for the magazine world, and his portraits, still lifes, and nude studies broke new ground. His 1960 book Moments Preserved redefined the photographic monograph with its dynamic layout and high-quality reproductions. In 1964, Penn began printing in platinum and palladium, reviving this 19th-century process to serve his own distinct vision. An innovator in every sense, Penn’s approach to photography was endlessly adventurous. Few photographers of his generation experimented as widely with both conventional and historic print processes, and none achieved Penn’s level of excellence in all.
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