Photographs from The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Sold to Benefit Acquisition Funds
J. Thézard
Wilbur Wright in Flight
No reserve
Lot Closed
April 10, 03:08 PM GMT
Estimate
5,000 - 7,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Photographs from The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Sold to Benefit Acquisition Funds
J. Thézard
1884 - 1957
Wilbur Wright in Flight
gelatin silver print, on a double paper mount, signed and dated '25 February 1909' by Wilbur Wright on the primary mount
image: 4¼ by 6¼ in. (10.8 by 15.9 cm.)
Executed in 1908, printed in 1909.
Christie's, South Kensington, 11 May 2001, Sale 9087, Lot 251
Collection of the Joy of Giving Something Foundation
Phillips, New York, The Odyssey of Collection: Photographs from Joy of Giving Something Foundation, 4 April 2017, Sale 40217, Lot 77
Acquired from the above by the present owner
The authorship of this photograph - documenting Wilbur Wright’s failed attempt to break a world record for longest flight duration in the Wright Flyer III. - was long a mystery. Made at dusk, just as the window for record-breaking was closing, it is a dramatic scene of early aviation. Its authorship is confirmed by another print of this image, also in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, that is signed "J. Thézard, Phot."
