Paul Outerbridge, Jr.

tri-color print, accompanied by the photographer's original mat, signed and dated in pencil, and wood frame, 1938 (Singular Aesthetic, pl. 74; Photographs, p. 121; Taschen, p. 201)

This color photograph is on double-weight paper with a very glossy surface. Its colors are rich and vibrant, and the print illustrates Outerbridge's considerable skill with color photographic media. The photograph has recently undergone conservation, primarily to stabilize and retouch an old, inexpertly-repaired 2.75-inch tear in the lower-center of the image. This recent repair was skillfully done, and the visibility of the tear is significantly reduced, though still visible upon inspection. A treatment report is available upon request. As with most highly glossy prints, some inconsistencies can be seen in the surface when it is viewed in high raking light. These include a handling crease in the upper center of the print which does not break the emulsion; some light scuffs visible in the upper right quadrant; and a small white mark (with some old and faded retouching) just above the hand, very faintly visible in the catalogue illustration. None of these issues detracts from the overall fine appearance of this lovely color print. The original heavy cream-colored board mat shows some minor discoloration and light occasional soiling. The photograph is mounted onto a thick piece of brown board to which is attached a protective brown paper overlay.
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.

The process used to make the present print of Favor-Horn and Shell has not been determined at this time.  It is not, in our opinion, a color carbro print.  Elaine Dines, in her volume A Singular Aesthetic (Laguna Beach, 1981), states that there are dye-transfer prints of this image, among the only dye-transfer prints that Paul Outerbridge made.  The print offered here, however, does not appear to be a dye-transfer print, at least to our eyes. 

Paul Martineau, in his research for Paul Outerbridge: Command Performance (Los Angeles, 2009), found references in the Outerbridge archive to a Chromatone print of this particular image.  The Chromatone process was certainly used by Outerbridge, and he discusses it in detail in his Photographing in Color (New York, 1940, pp. 5 – 8 and pp. 188 – 189).  Outerbridge describes the Chromatone process as having a 'high glossy surface,' which the present print exhibits. Chromatone prints' tendency to curl is noted by Carlton E. Dunn, in his early treatise on color photography, Natural Color Processes (Boston, 1940, p. 123).  The present image was originally taped to a heavy Masonite backboard with masking tape, and exhibited curling when it was removed from the board. 

Outerbridge was one of the progenitors of modern color photography: he experimented widely with available processes and contributed his own innovations to a number of them.  He was an acknowledged master of the carbro process, but was fluent in a variety of other color techniques.  During the period in which Outerbridge worked with color, there was tremendous amount of creativity on the part of both photographers and the industry, and many different color print types existed simultaneously.  This proliferation of processes, and the extent to which their appearance was affected by slight modifications, makes definitive classification of the present print's type elusive at this time.    

In the Outerbridge literature, Favor-Horn and Shell is consistently dated 'circa 1936.'  The date, in Outerbridge's hand, on the original signed mat of the photograph offered here, places the image in the year 1938.