Jun 08, 2023 - Sale 2640

Sale 2640 - Lot 179

Price Realized: $ 8,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 8,000
MALCOLM MORLEY
Portrait of Peter Hujar

Pencil on cream wove paper, 1974. 690x500 mm; 27 1/4x19 3/4 inches. Signed, dated and inscribed "Peter Hujar" in pencil, lower recto.

Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist, New York, by Norman Dolph, New York; thence by descent to the current owner.

Both Morley (1931-2018) and Hujar immersed themselves in New York artistic circles during their careers and likely met in the early 1970s. In the 1970s and 80s, Hujar (1934-1987) captured members of the New York subculture of artists and intellectuals in vulnerable and revealing photographic portraits. In 1976, Hujar photographed Morley at work on an East Hampton, New York beach at Christmas, gripping his sketchbook and staring at Hujar as he draws. In the current drawing, Hujar has become the subject, with Morley depicting the photographer in a reflective moment reading a book.