LANGE, DOROTHEA (1895-1965) A suite of 3 portraits of an African American man in Greenville, Mississippi. Silver prints, measuring 4 1/4x3 5/8 inches (10.8x9.2 cm.), and slightly smaller, each with the F.S.A. reference number, in pencil, and one also with Lange's Resettlement Administration credit hand stamp, on verso. 1936
From the Photo West Gallery, San Diego, California; to the present owner, in 1990.
A rare opportunity to see multiple images made from the same sitting, Lange's suite offers exceptional insight into her methodology. Each of these rare vintage photographs is printed on a matte surface double-weight paper, rendering the sitter and his environment in a lustrous range of tones, and with rich dimensional form. Lange's tender approach to her subject results in portraits that are intimate and emotive, direct and compassionate, revealing narrative in the figure's eyes, his hands cradling his face, furrowed brow, and even the tilt of his head.
The Library of Congress houses the negatives for the three images offered here, as well as an additional image made of the same man. We have not seen another print from the sitting.
Long Time Coming: A Photographic Portrait of America, 1935-1943 (Lesy), 185.
