Maple Black and White Photography

George Platt Lynes 1948 Photograph #1 of Balanchine Ballet ‘Orpheus’. George Platt Lynes rare original vintage 1948 gelatin silver photograph (dated by the NY City Public Library) of nude dancers Francisco Moncion and Nicholas Magallanes in George Balanchine's iconic mid-20th Century ballet 'Orpheus'. Stamped on verso in dark blue ink at upper center, "GEORGE PLATT LYNES/145 EAST 52 STREET NEW YORK”. Photo shoot took place in NYC. Costumes and Set by ISAMU NAGUCHI. Photo is 7 5/8 x 9 1/4 inches, soft satin finish in excellent condition. This photograph is from Francisco Moncion's original collection given to him by George Platt Lyons. It is one of 14 different poses in the 'Orpheus' series. 8 different photographs are remaining for sale and are available on request. All are original Platt Lyons gelatin silver prints original to Moncion's collection and are stamped by the photographer. Photographs from this celebrated series are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Museum of Modern Art (MOMA, NYC), the NYC Public Library, and many university art archives. George Platt Lynes (1907–1955), was a gregarious American portrait, dance, fashion, and male nude photographer whose career spanned the late 1920s through the early 1950s. From age eighteen, Lynes entered the cosmopolitan world of the American expatriate community in Paris when he became acquainted with the salon of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. He began photographing authors like Stein, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Colette and soon established himself as one of the premier fashion photographers in the Condé Nast stable, documenting the ballet companies of George Balanchine/Lincoln Kirstein, and pursuing a private obsession with seductive images of young male nudes rarely published in his lifetime. Orpheus represents a major 20th Century artistic collaboration between composer Igor Stravinsky, choreographer George Ballanchine, and artist/designer Isamu Naguchi. Orpheus is a thirty-minute neoclassical ballet composed by Igor Stravinsky in collaboration with choreographer George Balanchine in Hollywood, California in 1947. The work was commissioned by Ballet Society, later renamed New York City Ballet, which Balanchine founded with Lincoln Kirstein. Sets and costumes were created by Isamu Noguchi. Noguchi’s lyre harp from the production became the symbol of the New York City Ballet. Francisco Moncion (July 6, 1918 – April 1, 1995) was a charter member of the New York City Ballet. Over the course of his forty year career, choreographers George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins in the New York City Ballet created 22 major roles for Moncion including the Dark Angel...

This silver gelatin print made by Edward Weston's son, Cole, in the 1970s or '80s is titled, numbered, stamped and signed by Cole Weston on the back of the mount.

This vintage silver gelatin photograph, printed in the late 1920s on Kodak Vitava Athena paper, is signed in pencil beneath the image with a typeset title centered in the lower margi...

This silver gelatin contact print is signed and dated in pencil on the front of the mount with the title, date and numbering in pencil on the back of the mount. Print #30.

This vintage silver gelatin print is signed in pencil on the mount beneath the image. Printed in 1950 in an edition of 100 numbered copies and 5 presentation copies; this print is fr...

This silver gelatin print on Kodak Vitava Athena paper is signed in pencil beneath the image with typeset title on the front of the sheet. This print was made in 1927 for the Parmeli...

This silver gelatin print is signed in pencil on the front of the mount with stamp, title and numbering on the back of the mount.

This early silver gelatin print on semi-matte paper with margins was likely printed in the 1930s. This is an extremely rare variant of an image published in "The Four Seasons of Yose...

This vintage silver gelatin photograph, printed in the late 1920s on Kodak Vitava Athena paper, is signed in pencil beneath the image with a typeset title centered in the lower margi...

Signed in pencil on the front of the mount. Stamped on the back of the mount. From the Friends of Photography Print program, likely printed in the 1980s.

This contact print on 60-year-old single-weight Azo was made in 2020. This print is one of five known. It is signed and dated in pencil on the front of the mount, with title on the b...

This silver gelatin contact print mounted to board is signed in pencil on the front of the mount with credit, stamp, numbering, title and date in pencil on the back of the mount. Pho...