Lot 576
E.J. Bellocq. (Reclining Nude With Mask). 8" x 10" Contact Print from a c. 1912 glass negative (Plate #27), gelatin-silver print on printing-out paper, printed and signed by Lee Friedlander. Photograph of a woman wearing black stockings, a black mask, a playful smile, and nothing else. Matted and framed to an overall size of 15¼" x 17". E. J. Bellocq was an early 20th century commercial photographer in New Orleans whose pre-World War I photographs of the prostitutes working in Storyville, the city's legal Red Light district, were not discovered until years after his death (1949), when photographer Lee Friedlander discovered, purchased, restored and printed them. The photographs were primarily taken inside the brothels of Storyville. Many of the negatives were badly damaged, with the women's faces scraped away, possibly to protect their identity, or possibly by Bellocq's Jesuit brother, who inherited his brother's estate. In a few photos, such as the present one, the women wore masks in the original photos and were not touched. Damage to the original glass negative can be seen in the corners, but the image itself is very clear and beautiful.
Estimated Value $2,500 - 3,000.
Purchased from Paul Kopeikin Gallery.
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| Realized $3,000 |
