Josef Sudek

pigment print, signed and dated by the photographer in pencil in the margin, titled by him in pencil and with a partial 'glatt, weiss'  ['smooth, white'] stamp on the reverse, matted, framed, 1952

Estate of the photographer

Acquired by the Rudolf Kicken Gallery, Cologne, from the above, 1984

Zelda Cheatle Gallery, London

Acquired by the Quillan Company from the above, 1990

Jill Quasha, The Quillan Collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Photographs (New York, 1991), pl. 53 (this print)

This delicately-rendered pigment print has a lovely rich, red/brown tonality and delivers an incredible delineation of detail. The print is in excellent condition. As is typical of Sudek's pigment work, this print is on very thin paper. When examined closely in raking light, a faint disruption in the print's surface is visible to the left of the glass — this is inconsequential.
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.

A prolific photographer, Josef Sudek was active in his native Prague for nearly seven decades.  The photograph offered here is from late in Sudek's career, a period in which he had taken up a new series of sensitively-rendered still lifes. Sudek's shift to the inner world of his studio, and to more personal subjects, can be attributed to the outbreak and aftermath of World War II.  In her introduction to Josef Sudek: The Pigment Prints 1947-1954, Anna Fárová has noted that Konvalinka (Lily of the Valley) reflects Sudek's interest in pigment printing, an older photographic process, and contact prints, which he brought together in his most personal images.  The combination of the two allowed Sudek to re-interpret the age-old genre of still life by producing photographs in a format reminiscent of nineteenth-century photography.  Sudek executed at least one other study, formerly in the collection of Nancy Richardson, of this same leaf and flowering stem of a lily of the valley, a print sold in these rooms on 16 October 2007 (Sale 8399, Lot 82).