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IRVING PENN, (American, b. 1917), W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM, titled, numbered "P869", signed and inscri...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:8,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD
IRVING PENN, (American, b. 1917), W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM, titled, numbered  P869 , signed and inscri...
IRVING PENN
(American, b. 1917)
W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
titled, numbered "P869", signed and inscribed with printing information
in pencil on verso
dated "1962" copyright stamp on verso
various artist's stamps
with printing information
and edition stamp on verso
"P.S." inscribed in pencil on verso
platinum-palladium print
image: 193/4 x 193/4 in. (50.2 x 50.2 cm)
paper: 231/4 x 221/2 in. (59.1 x 57.2 cm)
1962
printed 1968
this print is number 8
from an edition of 15
ESTIMATE: $8,000-12,000
<p>PROVENANCE
Private Collection, New York
<p>LITERATURE
Irving Penn, PASSAGE: A WORK RECORD, New York, Knopf/Callaway Books, 1991, p. 137 (illustrated)
Irving Penn maintained a career-long interest in shooting pictures of artists and writers, including the present portrait of W. Somerset Maugham, the celebrated playwright and novelist. The smoke that subtly billows from Maugham's nose is softly described by the platinum printing process, which captures subtle tonal gradations and an illusionistic chiaroscuro. The highly
controlled staging of costume, lighting, props and pose derive from Penn's background in fashion photography. For his portraits, however, Penn allowed for a compromise between artist and sitter. We witness this in Maugham's pose, which is turned away from the viewer, avoiding a direct confrontation.
The viewer may enjoy the subject's interesting physiognomy without
feeling intrusive.