Minor White Vintage Abstract Gelatin Silver Photograph

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Minor White Vintage Abstract Gelatin Silver Photograph

About the Item

Minor White Abstract Black & White Gelatin Silver Print framed in hand finished ebony hardwood Minor White (1908-1976, born in Minneapolis) “Peeling Paint, 1959” Unsigned. This silver gelatin print comes from the collection of recently deceased William Webb. The “Collection of William Webb” stamp on back of print. “Peeling Paint, 1959 Photograph by Minor White” written on mount recto in an unknown hand. Featured as frontispiece for 1978 monograph of White's work, Aperture Monograph “Rites & Passages." William Webb (1919-1996, Los Angeles) based in Big Sur. Photographer, writer, and founding board member of Friends of Photography. Webb is a central figure in Big Sur’s artistic community and close friend and collaborator with Ansel Adams. Like Minor White, William Webb develops his interest in photography in tandem with the study of botany and writing. In 1937 Webb attends Deep Springs College where he engages serious photographic effort in photographic documentation for his studies of botany and geology in Deep Springs Valley. In 1938 Webb enrolls in Occidental College. In 1959, Webb exhibited his photography in the The Photograph as Poetry group show at the Pasadena Art Museum along with Ansel Adams, Wyn Bullock, Imogen Cunningham and Brett Weston. Likewise, Minor White, having spent much of his childhood in a large garden at his grandparents' home, majors in botany at the University of Minnesota in 1927. Foregoing graduation, White, takes leave of College, to pursue his interest in writing. In 1932 White re-entered the university to study writing and botany, graduating in 1934. Graduate classes in botany followed but eventually White gives up on the idea of becoming a scientist. He leaves school again to work odd jobs while writing poetry. William Webb also demonstrates a persistent interest in literature and the possibilities of images and text. After various business exploits into textile manufacturing and small publishing companies, Webb befriends Henry Miller in 1958, eventually publishing To Paint is to Love Again and, in 1991, a selection of his photographs of Miller for Henry and Friends: The California Years, 1946 – 1977. In 1967, Webb’s photography appeared in the book Carmel By-The-Sea in Stories and Pictures, published by the painter/writer Emil White and in 1972, Webb collaborates with Allen Ginsberg to produce the image text work Bixby Canyon Ocean Path Word Breeze. In late 1937 Minor White moves to Portland where he lives at the YMCA, teaches adult classes in photography and joins the Oregon Camera Club. White works in 1938 as photographer for the WPA funded Oregon Art Project and, in 1940, teaches at the La Grande Art Center in eastern Oregon. In 1941 the Museum of Modern Art in New York accepts for inclusion in their "Image of Freedom" exhibition three of White’s photographs all of which are purchased by the museum at the close of the exhibition. A solo show follows in 1941 at the Portland Art Museum. Minor White’s life again parallels William Webb’s in 1942 when White is drafted into the United States Army. White chooses to hide his homosexuality from the recruiters. The first two years of the war are spent in Hawaii and Australia with White becoming Chief of the Divisional Intelligence branch in the southern Philippines. During this period he rarely photographs, choosing instead to write poetry and extended verse. "Minor Testament," describes the bonds of men under extreme conditions. Around the same time, William Webb was sent to Cascade Locks CPS Camp as a conscientious objector to WWII. In 1943 Webb is found in violation of the Selective Service Act and sentenced to three years at a Federal Penitentiary. For both White and Webb, World War II poses a challenge to their values and their very identity and each, in their own way, finds a way to either reject or appropriate the mission into the context of their life’s work. After the war, White enrolls in Columbia University. In New York, White became close friends with Beaumont and Nancy Newhall, both active in the newly established photography department at the Museum of Modern Art. White gains employment as photographer for the museum. In 1946 White visits Edward Weston at Point Lobos and begins a deep attachment to Weston and William Webb’s northern California region. By 1947 White becomes the primary teacher at CSFA in Northern California developing a three-year course with an emphasis on more personal and expressive photography. At this time, White creates “Amputations,” his first grouping of photos and text in non-narrative form. Scheduled for exhibition at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, the show is canceled over White’s refusal to remove accompanying text expressing ambiguity around U.S. post-war patriotism. Here again, we see parallels with Webb’s ambivalence around US foreign policy and serious interest in the the relationship between words and images. In 1952, White, together with Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, et al. founds Aperture, the quarterly publication on photography produced in San Francisco. Similarly, in 1967 William Webb, together with Ansel Adams, Morley Baer and Brett Weston, establishes the longtime publication Friends of Photography. Webb is nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and in 1976 he relocates to Big Sur. In 1953 Minor White joins the staff of George Eastman House and soon thereafter pursues a longtime teaching collaboration as part-time faculty member at Rochester Institute of Technology. From 1965 until his death in 1975, Minor White teaches photography at MIT. William Webb dies in 1996, just prior to his 1997 solo show at the UC Berkeley Museum of Art exhibiting Webb’s favored subject and medium: black and white landscape photographs. Internationally recognized, Minor White has been honored with more than forty solo exhibitions. He is represented in important private collections and major museums around the world. Framed in hand finished ebonized hardwood with Denglass, fully transparent, UV resistant glazing. 15”w 17.5”ht overall; 7”w 9”w image $10,500

Creator:
Minor White (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 17.5 in (44.45 cm)Width: 15 in (38.1 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
Style:
Modern (Of the Period)
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1950-1959
Date of Manufacture:
1959
Condition:
See other items in inventory to gauge quality control and identify dealer. More detailed images at www.modernartifacts.net.
Seller Location:
San Francisco, CA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU8615752733