BERENICE ABBOTT Signed 1928 Original Photograph -"René Crevel"

Description: This is a superb original signed museum quality black and white photograph by internationally acclaimed photographer BERENICE ABBOTT (American, 1898-1991), circa 1928, printed later. Abbott took up photography in 1925 while working as Man Ray's photographic assistant in his Paris studio. It was there that she made her first portraits, using his equipment. Her subjects were the expatriate artists and writers within her own immediate circle as well as members of the Parisian avant-garde, including the young Surrealist writer René Crevel (1900-1935), whom she may have met through Man Ray. She made this elegant portrait of the dapperly attired Crevel at her studio on the rue Servandoni in Montpanasse. The photograph, in which Crevel is posed in profile against a plain backdrop, captures his far-off gaze, delicate features, and an errant cowlick, revealing an introspective artist with an eccentric edge. Identified by André Breton in his first Surrealist Manifesto as a performer of acts of "absolute surrealism," Crevel participated in the earliest Surrealist dream experiments and developed a bizarre and imaginative writing style with which he critiqued the capitalist bourgeoisie, the Catholic Church, and post-WWI European society in numerous books, essays, and poems. In the 1930s Crevel battled tuberculosis and became increasingly devoted to the principles of Communism. On the eve of the Parisian "Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture," which he helped organize, the ailing 34-year-old committed suicide citing his disgust over the political quarreling between the Surrealists and the Communists. This extremely rare original photograph is entitled "René Crevel" and is signed in pencil by the photographer on verso, "Berenice Abbott", with her '50 Commerce St., New York, 14, New York' credit stamp on the verso, in generally good condition aside from a few light scratches (seen only at extreme raking light). It measures 8" x 10" and is matted for a total size of 14" x 17". PROVENANCE: Estate of Glenn Goldman, Los Angeles. Glenn Goldman was the owner of the internationally-known West Hollywood independent bookstore called Book Soup. Authenticity is GUARANTEED. A similar, smaller, 6" x 8" photograph by Berenice Abbott sold at auction for $11,000. (Sotheby's, New York, 10/16/2007). Gallery retail prices are always much higher. Packing, shipping and insurance is $45.00 within the US only, please email for international shipping rates. Please view my eBay store for additional museum quality fine art and collectibles, including other fine photographs. Payment I accept the following forms of payment: PayPal Shipping & Handling $45.00 USPS Priority Mail®

Price: 3000 USD

Location: Los Angeles, California

End Time: 2025-01-30T22:30:26.000Z

Shipping Cost: 45 USD