Aug 18, 2022 - Sale 2613

Sale 2613 - Lot 20

Price Realized: $ 1,875
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

(DJUNA BARNES 1892-1982)


Portrait of writer Djuna Barnes, apparently supplied to the American Academy of Arts and Letters upon her induction in 1959.
Silver print, the image measuring 235x152 mm; 9 1/4x6 1/4 inches, the mount 356x254 mm; 14x10 inches, with the Pach Brothers' imprint on mount recto. Circa 1920s.

With--A letter written by Jeff Schaire, a former editor-in-chief of Art and Antiques Magazine, describing some context of this work, which was supplied by Barnes to the American Academy of Arts and Letters upon her induction. The Pach Brothers studio was commissioned to create a new portrait of each inducted member, however apparently Barnes insisted on supplying her own image, which was then mounted to a Pach Brothers' board. Both Man Ray and Berenice Abbott photographed Barnes in the 1920s, but this image, featuring a striking high-necked polka dot blouse and hat, is uncredited.

Additional Details

Djuna Barnes was an avant-garde American artist and writer, perhaps best known for her novel Nightwood, a work employing themes of love, gender, and sexuality.