LOT Phillips de Pury & Company  /  PHOTOGRAPHS PART I  / 

40

LEON LEVINSTEIN (American, 1913-1988) HANDBALL PLAYERS, HOUSTON STREET, NEW YORK signed

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LEON LEVINSTEIN (American, 1913-1988) HANDBALL PLAYERS, HOUSTON STREET, NEW YORK signed
LEON LEVINSTEIN (American, 1913-1988) HANDBALL PLAYERS, HOUSTON STREET, NEW YORK signed "LEON LEVINSTEIN" in pencil on verso artist's stamp in blue ink on verso vintage gelatin silver print mounted on board 13 1/2 x 10 7/8 in. (34.3 x 27.6 cm) 1970 PROVENANCE Photofind Gallery, NEW YORK Private Collection, NEW YORK LITERATURE Helen Gee, Sarah Morthland, ed. LEON LEVINSTEIN, New York, 1990, pl. 12 (illustrated) Jane Livingston, THE NEW YORK SCHOOL: PHOTOGRAPHS 1936-1963, New York, 1992, p. 175 (illustrated) Bob Shamis, LEON LEVINSTEIN: THE MOMENT OF EXPOSURE, Ottawa, 1995, back cover and p. 74, cat. no. 60 (illustrated twice) Helen Gee, leon levinstein:THAT'S WHERE THE LIFE IS, CHICAGO, 2001, p. 16 (illustrated) Handball courts were one of Levinstein's favorite destinations as he wandered the streets of New York City during every free moment he had. This shot conveys pure physicality as it captures these handball players in such frenetic action that the man in the foreground is jumping out of the picture frame. This dynamic photograph was taken with the 35mm Leica that Levinstein began to favor in the mid-1960s, due to its maneuverability and quiet action. With this camera, he was able to remain completely unobtrusive and inconspicuous, qualities that carried over into his approach to life in general. There is nothing so demonstrative of life on the streets of New York as a pick-up handball game. These men are seen at play, probably just after work, as what remains of their clothing are suit pants and their black shoes. Truncated bodies and heads are very typical of the photographer, who left no extraneous information in his images. Levinstein's background in graphic design is also quite clear in this shot. The lines, shapes, and framing "make the whole frame count as an energized field" (Kozloff, "Leon Levinstein and the School of New York," LEON LEVINSTEIN: THE MOMENT OF EXPOSURE, p. 50).
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