Gertrude Käsebier

platinum print, inscribed 'Charlotte from G. K.' in pencil on the reverse, circa 1902 (Camera Work Number 1, p. 27; Michaels, The Photographer and Her Photographs, pl. 59)

The photographer to Charlotte Smith

Collection of Edward Steichen

Collection of Joanna Steichen

Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, 2003

This open platinum print has rich charcoal-like dark tones and light-cream-colored highlights. It is essentially in very good condition. When the print is examined very closely, a thumbtack impression and hole is visible at the center of the upper edge of the print. There is minor wear on the edges, and the corners are somewhat rounded. None of these condition issues detracts in a serious way from the lovely appearance of this print. The reverse of the photograph is lightly soiled, and there are 2 small remnants of paper tape in the lower corners. Other prints of this image: William Innes Homer, A Pictorial Heritage: The Photographs of Gertrude Käsebier (Delaware Art Museum, 1979), pl. 30 William Innes Homer, Alfred Stieglitz and the Photo-Secession (Boston, 1983), fig. 24 William Innes Homer and Catherine Johnson, Stieglitz and the Photo-Secession 1902 (New York, 2002), unpaginated
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.

Serbonne shows the young Edward Steichen, standing at left, and seated on the grass, the artist Frances Delehanty, Käsebier’s daughter Hermine, and the art student Charlotte Smith, whose sister Clara became Steichen’s first wife and to whom this print is inscribed.   The image is recorded in several different states and in both vertical and horizontal formats.   The print offered here is an especially open one, in which the sitters and the details of the landscape are clearly defined.