Florence Henri

signed by the photographer in pencil and with her circular 'Atelier Florence Henri' studio stamp on the reverse, matted, early 1930s

Christie's East, 11 November 1985, Sale 6007, Lot 201

Acquired by Timothy Baum, New York, from the above

Acquired by the Quillan Company from the above, 1990

Jill Quasha, The Quillan Collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Photographs (New York, 1991), pl. 32 (this print)

This warm-toned 2 ¼ -inch-format contact print is on heavy single-weight paper with a semi-glossy finish. Aside from some minute chipping of the emulsion on the right portion of the top edge, this print is in excellent condition. There is a faint soft 1-inch linear raised area barely visible in the left portion of the image, and a corresponding area on the right, visible only in raking light. There is light silvering in the print's dark areas, appropriate for a print of this age.
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.

Trained as an artist in the late Cubist style, Florence Henri studied at the Académie Moderne with Fernand Léger, and later at the Bauhaus in 1927.  Initially interested only in painting, she experimented widely with photography while at the Bauhaus, and took it up in earnest in 1928.  The following year she opened a commercial photography studio in Paris, and it is the stamp of this studio that appears on the reverse of the present print.  Taken in the 1930s in Paris, Sur Les Quais is characteristic of the artist's work in the period following her stay at the Bauhaus, when she began to take her camera onto the streets.  In its emphasis on oblique angles and unique perspectives, the composition shows the influence of László Moholy-Nagy and Russian Constructivism.  Sur Les Quais also reflects the artist's interest in views from above or below, views through windows or stairs, or views that would otherwise appeal to her Cubist sensibility for abstracting and fracturing space.  Henri's work was shown in the important exhibition of modern photography, Film und Foto, held in Stuttgart in 1929.