1940s Photography

Iconic scene from the influential film "Citizen Kane" Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenpla...

Stunning black and white capture of Lucille Ball lying on silk, looking seductively and elegantly to the camera. Lucille Ball, in full Lucille Desire Ball, radio and motion-pictur...

Laszlo Willinger Vivien Leigh, 1940 Original vintage photograph from the original negative Hand signed, framed Sheet dimensions: 12 x 9 inches Framed dime...

A series of four shots of film stars (left to right) Clark Gable (1901 - 1960), Van Heflin (1910 - 1971), Gary Cooper (1901 - 1961) and James Stewart (1908 - 1997) enjoying a joke at...

Dangerous Perch (1940) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Archive London) Evacuee Barrie Peacop enjoys an ice cream as he sits on a mine ...

Photo is 9X13.5 (image size), 16X20 is the mat. Mounted to original mat. Vintage photograph. Marion Post (June 7, 1910 – November 24, 1990), later Marion Post Wolcott, was a noted American photographer who worked for the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression documenting poverty and deprivation. Marion Post was born in New Jersey on June 7, 1910. Her parents split up and she was sent to boarding school, spending time at home with her mother in Greenwich Village when not at school. Here she met many artists and musicians and became interested in dance. She studied at The New School. Post trained as a teacher, and went to work in a small town in Massachusetts. Here she saw the reality of the Depression and the problems of the poor. When the school closed she went to Europe to study with her sister Helen. Helen was studying with Trude Fleischmann, a Viennese photographer. Marion Post showed Fleischmann some of her photographs and was told to stick to photography. Marion Post Wolcott with Rolleiflex and Speed Graphic in hand in Montgomery County, Maryland. While in Vienna she saw some of the Nazi attacks on the Jewish population and was horrified. Soon she and her sister had to return to America for safety. She went back to teaching but also continued her photography and became involved in the anti-fascist movement. At the New York Photo League she met Ralph Steiner and Paul Strand who encouraged her. When she found that the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin kept sending her to do "ladies' stories," Ralph Steiner took her portfolio to show Roy Stryker, head of the Farm Security Administration, and Paul Strand wrote a letter of recommendation. Stryker was impressed by her work and hired her immediately. Post's photographs for the FSA often explore the political aspects of poverty and deprivation. They also often find humour in the situations she encountered. In 1941 she met Leon Oliver Wolcott, deputy director of war relations for the U. S. Department of Agriculture under Franklin Roosevelt. They married, and she continued her assignments for the FSA, but resigned shortly thereafter in February 1942. She found it difficult to fit in her photography around raising a family and a great deal of traveling and living overseas. In the 1970s, a renewed interest in Wolcott's images among scholars rekindled her own interest in photography. In 1978, Wolcott mounted her first solo exhibition in California, and by the 1980s the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art began to collect her photographs. The first monograph on her work was published in 1983. She was an advocate for women's rights; in 1986, Wolcott said: "Women have come a long way, but not far enough. . . . Speak with your images from your heart and soul" (Women in Photography Conference, Syracuse, N.Y.) She and other FSA WPA photographers, including Esther Bubley...

Dangerous Perch (1940) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Archive London) Evacuee Barrie Peacop enjoys an ice cream as he sits on a mine ...

Film stars (left to right) Clark Gable (1901 - 1960), Van Heflin (1910 - 1971), Gary Cooper (1901 - 1961) and James Stewart (1908 - 1997) enjoy a joke at a New Year's party held at R...

Lucille Brown takes control of the Vespa scooter as her husband Louis Armstrong (1898 - 1971) displays his musical appreciation of the ancient Colosseum in Rome. Slim Aarons Jazz S...

photo is 9X13.5 (image size), 16X20 is the mat. Mounted to original mat. Vintage photograph. Three young Grange members represent Flora, Ceres and Pamona in Fairfax, 1940. Arthur Rothstein ( 1915 – 1985) was an American photographer. Rothstein is recognized as one of America’s premier photojournalists. During a career that spanned five decades, he provoked, entertained and informed the American people. His photographs ranged from a hometown baseball game to the drama of war, from struggling rural farmers to US Presidents. Rothstein was born in Manhattan, New York City, and he grew up in the Bronx. He was a graduate of Columbia University, where he was a founder of the University Camera Club and photography editor of the Columbian. Following his graduation from Columbia during the Great Depression, Rothstein was invited to Washington DC by one of his professors at Columbia, Roy Stryker. Rothstein had been Stryker's student at Columbia University in the early 1930s. Stryker hired Rothstein to set up the darkroom for Stryker's Photo Unit of the Historical Section of the Resettlement Administration (RA). Perhaps Rothstein's most famous...

This Vintage Photo shows the German novelist and essayist Thomas Mann (1875-1955).

Thanksgiving Day, Ledyard, Connecticut by Jack Delano is a black and white photograph of a family eating their Thanksgiving meal, seen through the reflection of a mirror, with pies s...

Slim Aarons Burlington Arcade 1955 (printed later) Silver gelatin print estate signature stamped edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity Model turned fashion editor turned ...

Guests around the pool at a villa in St Tropez, France, circa 1970. Slim Aarons St Tropez Pool Lambda Print 4 sizes available Slim Aarons Estate Edition 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x ...

A group of young men playing handball at a court in the 95th Street playground, Central Park, New York City, 1948. Slim Aarons Handball in Central Park Chromogenic Lambda print Slim...

This late 1940s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of boys competing in a marble championship in Central Park, New York City. This i...

This late 1940s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of boys competing in a marble championship in Central Park, New York City. This i...

Weegee (1899-1968) was equally fascinated and inspired by cinema and all of its tangents, from Hollywood movie stars to ordinary civilians going to the movies. While Weegee is typically associated with crime/disaster images, the broad theme of "entertainment" is a major component of his oeuvre. An interesting and provocative sub-genre of his cinema-related work are his images of couples (often heavy-petting) in movie theatres. Recent scholarship has established that many of Weegee's supposed clandestine images were actually staged or arranged with friends or co-operative strangers. Nevertheless, Weegee created these photographs in the dark with an array of clever techniques including infrared film, filtered flashbulb and triangular prism lens. Employed in shots such as this one, the prism lens would allow the artist to “see around corners,” useful at times when his subjects were in compromising locations. These images of kissing couples, Weegee wrote in 1959, were “his best seller, year in and year out.” "Sailor and GIrl at the Movies...

From the 50th Anniversary Portfolio (1902-1952) printed by Brett Weston (1951-1952).

This silver gelatin contact print with margins (4 x 4 7/8 in) is signed in ink and numbered '7' in pencil on the front of the mount. Credited, titled and dated on gallery label affix...

Signed, titled, and dated in pencil on print verso. Jack Delano, born Jacob Ovcharov, moved from his native Russian to New York in 1923, at the age of 9. He went on to study illustr...

Vintage Silver Gelatin print. (possibly from Vogue Magazine). This appears to be Wolfgang Roth and cast of possibly The Littlest Circus. Performers have horse heads. The photo is stamped on the back Halley Erskine of New York City. Halley Erskine, Vogue photographer. The New York Times announced Halley’s marriage to Graham Erskine of Wilton, Connecticut October 18, 1940 at the bridegroom’s home at 212 East 48th Street in New York. Divorced six years later, Halley seemed to finally come into her own. She had started her career “pre-Graham” as a fashion editor for Vogue and Glamour magazines, often working on photo shoot sites with literary personalities, dancers, artists and actors. The writing and editing morphed into a love of photography which led to doing work for the Saturday Evening Post, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan and House & Garden. Impulsive and fearless, Halley was also known to do anything to capture the shot. Halley did some teaching at The Famous Photographer’s School. Halley was intensely curious, always learning and had a penchant for high technology gadgets. Halley Erskine worked with the sculptor Seymour Lipton, Lee Krasner, Charles Ives, Horst, Diane Arbus and John Steinbeck/ art director at Vogue magazine she shot for Time and Life and Frank Lloyd Wright. Wolfgang Roth fled Nazi Germany in 1933, arriving in New York by 1938. He apprenticed with Bertolt Brecht and Edwin Piscator in the underground Theatre and Opera of Pre War Nazi germany and studied at the Academy of Art in Berlin under Cesar Klein, a Member of the Association of Revolutionary Visual Artists where he befriended George Grosz who also ended up emigrating to the USA. Roth worked with Lazlo Moholy-Nagy in bringing to life his theater designs. He was an Instructor of Design at New York University (NYU) School of the Arts for many years A great Mid-century Modern screenprint...

A group of young men playing handball at a court in the 95th Street playground, Central Park, New York City, 1948. Slim Aarons Handball in Central Park Chromogenic Lambda print Slim...

A group of young men playing handball at a court in the 95th Street playground, Central Park, New York City, 1948. Slim Aarons Handball in Central Park Chromogenic Lambda print Slim...

ROI PARTRIDGE (1888-1964) PHOTOGRAM c 1940 Gelatin Silver Print c. 1940 9 ½ x 7 ¾ signed & titled. Mounted on card. Partridge was a well known California etcher. He was married...

Winter Visitors from Nearby Trailer Park, Picnicking Beside Car on Beach, Near Sarasota, Florida “Get the Party Started” is a gelatin silver print, signed by the artist on the front ...

The Pine Camp Military area near Watertown, NY, August by Jack Delano is a 13.38 x 17.75 inch silver gelatin print. This photograph features a group of children and adults surroundin...

Signed, dated and marked "$600" on the back of the mount.

This triptych is three original photographs printed from the original camera negatives, shot by Bill Carroll in 1945, and printed in 2010. These images depict a young Norma Jeane at ...

Portrait of Mrs Gilles is a Photograph realized by Renzo Cinti in the 1940s. Good condition included a cream-colored carboard passpartout (32x23 cm). Hand-signed by the artist on t...

Portrait of Mrs Gilles is a Photograph realized by Renzo Cinti in the 1940s. Good condition included a cream-colored carboard passpartout (32x23 cm). Hand-signed by the artist on t...

This piece is an original vintage photograph, from the original negative, shot by Laszlo Willinger in 1949. It depicts a young Marilyn Monroe wearing a crochet top. Hand signed by ...

Slim Aarons Burlington Arcade 1955 (printed later) Silver gelatin print estate signature stamped edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity Shops in Burlington Arcade, which r...

This piece is comprised of two original photographs, from the original negatives, by George Barris and Bill Carroll, framed side by side. These photographs represent the first and l...

This piece is an original photograph from the original negative, shot by Bill Carroll in 1945 and printed at a later date. It depicts a young Marilyn Monroe (then known as Norma Jean...

Lotte Jacobi Chaim Weizmann Photograph Year: 1948 Size: 11.5x9.5in Annotated by hand on verso in pencil Ref.: 924802-1354 Lotte Jacobi (August 17, 1896 – May 6, 1990) was a leading American portrait photographer and photojournalist, known for her high-contrast black-and-white portrait photography, characterized by intimate, sometimes dramatic, sometimes idiosyncratic and often definitive humanist depictions of both ordinary people in the United States and Europe and some of the most important artists, thinkers and activists of the 20th century. Jacobi's photographic style stressed informality, and sought to delve deeper into the traits of her subjects than traditional portraiture. She made a point of photographing subjects in their own environments, and talking to them while she worked. She explained the reasoning behind her approach this way: "I just try and get people to talk, to relax, to be themselves. I don't like a passive, bored subject. I do portraits because I like people, and I want to bring out their personalities. Many photographers today, I think, are bringing out the worst part of people. I try and bring out the best." Jacobi is perhaps best known for her "portrait of Albert Einstein (Princeton, 1938), whom she photographed candidly, seated at his desk, dishevelled and dressed in a leather jacket, a work that was refused by Life magazine for its simplicity." Other personality-driven portraits include "Eleanor Roosevelt sitting back, gesturing, and obviously speaking in midsentence; Marc Chagall depicted as a jovial family man; Thomas Mann appearing as thoughtful as his work; and more candid, gentle portraits of Einstein." Other celebrated subjects included poets W. H. Auden, Robert Frost...

An original vintage photograph, shot by Laszlo Willinger in the 1940's. It depicts Austrian-born American film actress, Hedy Lamarr. Lamarr was known for...

This piece is an original vintage photograph, shot by Laszlo Willinger in the 1940's. It depicts English actress Greer Garson, a major star at Metro-Goldw...

Thomson, Virgil (American, 1896-1989. THE MOTHER OF US ALL. Music Press, NY, 1947. Quarto, cloth, 157pp. The limited edition of 55 copies on special paper, signed on the colophon pag...

Old Days  - Historical Photo is a vintage black and white photograph realized in the 1940s. Good conditions.

An original vintage photograph from the original negative, shot by Laszlo Willinger in 1943. It depicts Norwegian figure skater and film star, Sonja Henie...

An original photograph printed from the original camera negative, shot by Bill Carroll in 1945, and printed in 2010. This image depicts a young Norma Jeane at the beginning of her ca...

This piece is an original photograph from the original negative taken by Laszlo Willinger circa 1940 and printed in 1989. It depicts the iconic actress Katharine Hepburn during the p...

Portrait of Mrs Gilles is a  Photograph realized by Renzo Cinti in 1940s.

Portrait of Mrs Gilles is a  Photograph realized by Renzo Cinti in 1940s.

Queen Elisabeth and Princess Margaret Rose - Royal family is a black and white vintage photo, realized in the 1940s. It belongs to historical album including photo reportages of hist...

This piece is an original photograph printed from the original camera negative, shot by Bill Carroll in 1945, and printed in 2010. This image depicts a young Norma Jeane at the begin...

This piece is an original photograph from the original negative, shot by Bill Carroll in 1945 and printed at a later date. It depicts a young Marilyn Monroe (then known as Norma Jea...

This piece is an original photograph printed from the original camera negative, shot by Bill Carroll in 1945, and printed in 2010. This image depicts a young Norma Jeane at the begin...

This piece is an original vintage photograph printed from the original negative, shot by Laszlo Willinger c. 1940's. It depicts the late movie and Broadway star, Mary Martin...

This piece is an original photograph from the original negative, shot by Laszlo Willinger c. 1940's and printed in the 1980's. It depicts the late American actor, producer, and director Robert...

This piece is an original vintage photograph by Laszlo Willinger taken circa 1943. It depicts "Old Hollywood" actor, Jack Buetel. This piece is hand signed by the photographer. The...

“Art Shay’s photography shakes you up, sets you down gently, pats you on the head and then kicks you in the ass.” Roger Ebert “[Shay’s work] ranks with some of the greats of the 20...

Street photography was Art's true passion. He never went anywhere without his camera so he could capture moments like this one - a priest on a Chicago street "observing" one of his parishioners. Art saw humor in everyday life catching moments that the casual observer probably would have missed. Art Shay Observant Father, 1949 vintage silver gelatin print...

King George 6th and Mother Queen is a photograph realized in the 1940s. Good conditions. The artwork is realized in a well-balanced composition.

Mother Queen is a photograph realized in the 1940s. Good conditions. The artwork is realized in a well-balanced composition.

War Cemetary is a photograph realized in the 1950s. Good conditions.

War Cemetery is a photograph realized in the 1950s. Good conditions.