BOURKE WHITE MARGARET (1904 1971) Newly born Praying Mantis

Sale 1981 - Lot 133

Unsold

Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 5,000

BOURKE-WHITE, MARGARET (1904-1971)
"Newly born Praying Mantis." Silver print, 71/2x8 inches (19.1x20.3 cm.), with Bourke-White's signature and title, in pencil, on mount recto and a hand stamp on mount verso. Circa 1939

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Additional Details

Margaret Bourke-White worked on a series depicting the life cycle of the praying mantis for 3 years, often carrying egg cases with her on assignments to make sure she didn't miss their hatching. Vicki Goldberg relates a humorous story in her biography of Bourke-White: "Once a batch of mantis eggs hatched at life while she was away on assignment, and Peggy Sargent came in morning to find the office in an uproar, with the fragile little dragons perched on every typewriter and telephone." (New York, 1986), p. 232. A sampling of the mantis photographs was published in "Life" magazine's August 21, 1939 issue.