Minor White

mounted on Vadun illustration board, signed by the photographer in pencil on the mount, titled, dated, and lettered '#E' in ink and annotated by him in pencil and with his San Francisco studio and reproduction rights stamps and a 'California State Fair' stamp, numbered '13E' in an unidentified hand in black crayon, on the reverse, matted, 1948

Sacramento, California State Fair, circa 1948

Other prints of this image:

Minor White: Rites and Passages (Aperture, 1978), p. 116

Mirrors/Messages/Manifestations (Aperture, 1969), p. 142

Aperture, vol. 80, p. 116

This photograph is in generally excellent condition. In high raking light, several tiny, faint indentations are visible throughout the print. The photograph is mounted to buff-colored, heavy Vadun board, which is in generally very good condition. It is age-darkened, particularly at the edges, and the corners are bumped. A graphite pencil-point mark is visible in the lower left quadrant. We are unsure of the exact year in which White exhibited at the California State Fair in Sacramento, but it was no earlier than 1948 and no later than 1953 when White left California for New York.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This photograph was included in White's carefully sequenced book, Mirrors/Messages/Manifestations, initially published in 1969.  It is the first image in the section entitled 'Three Canons,' and is accompanied by the following text:

'Be still with yourself

Until the object of your attention

Affirms your presence'

In his comments at the back of the book, White notes that each of the images he refers to as Canons 'are an adaptation for photography of the Six Canons of Chinese Painting first formulated by Hsieh Ho, about A. D. 500' (p. 230).