LOT Phillips de Pury & Company  /  PHOTOGRAPHS PART I  / 

45

NICHOLAS NIXON (American, b. 1947) THE BROWN SISTERS, 1976/1981/1984/1987/1989 each titled, loca...

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NICHOLAS NIXON (American, b. 1947) THE BROWN SISTERS, 1976/1981/1984/1987/1989 each titled, loca...
NICHOLAS NIXON (American, b. 1947) THE BROWN SISTERS, 1976/1981/1984/1987/1989 each titled, located [Hartford, Conn/Cincinnati/Truro, Mass/Chatham, Mass/Cambridge], dated, editioned, numbered and signed in pencil on verso five gelatin silver prints matted and framed together each: 8 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm) overall: 48 3/4 x 16 3/4 in. (123.8 x 42.5 cm) 1976, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1989 each print is from an edition of 50 PROVENANCE Fraenkel Gallery, SAN FRANCISCO Private Collection, NEW YORK LITERATURE Peter Galassi, NICHOLAS NIXON: PICTURES OF PEOPLE, New York, 1988, p. 94 (1976 illustrated), p. 99 (1981 illustrated), p. 102 (1984 illustrated), p. 105 (1987 illustrated) Sarah Greenough, et al, ON THE ART OF FIXING A SHADOW, Boston, 1989, p. 419 (1976 illustrated) Peter Galassi, NICHOLAS NIXON: THE BROWN SISTERS, New York, 1999, n.p. (each illustrated) Since the marriage of Nicholas Nixon to Beverly (Bebe) Brown (second from the right) in 1971, Nixon has been attending Brown family gatherings. He was immediately amazed by the photographs on display in the Brown home: fifty-odd snapshots of the four sisters taken by their parents, which were copied and sent out annually in the form of Christmas cards. Well-accustomed to posing for group photographs, Nixon was able to convince the Brown sisters to pose for his camera in 1974 during one of the Brown family get-togethers. After discarding this negative in dissatisfaction, Nixon attempted a group portrait again in 1975, the first of an annual series he has been making ever since. The sisters-Heather, Mimi, Bebe, and Laurie-are always photographed in that order, left to right. Nixon makes many negatives each year, but chooses only the best one to represent that year. These photographs are displayed in groups, such as these five, and chronicle a passage of time over thirteen years. These five photographs are contact prints, as Nixon uses the cumbersome 8 x 10 inch view camera to create his imagery. In the 1984 portrait, we can see the shadow of both the artist and his equipment. The contact print allows for a crisp image, with no loss of detail since no enlargement is necessary. Every detail of the aging process encountered by these four women is visible, as they stand before the camera with strength and pride. "These pictures grew out of my curiosity about and admiration for this band of beautiful, strong women, who first let me into their lives, then allowed me to try making one picture, then joined me in a tradition, an annual rite of passage" (as quoted in Nicholas Nixon: the brown sisters, 1999, n.p.).
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