Lou Stoumen — Forty Years, 1981 — 20 Signed Gelatin Silver Photographs — No. 17/50 — Museum of Modern Art Provenance

Lou Stoumen — Forty Years, 1981

Complete Portfolio of 20 Signed Gelatin Silver Photographs — No. 17 of 50 — Museum of Modern Art Provenance

Lou Stoumen (1917–1991)
Forty Years
The Witkin Gallery, New York / G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Los Angeles, 1980–1981

A complete portfolio of twenty original gelatin silver photographs by Lou Stoumen, spanning four decades of the photographer’s career from 1940 through 1979.

This is number 17 of only 50 numbered portfolios, with each of the twenty photographs signed by Stoumen and the accompanying justification sheet additionally signed and numbered 17/50.

Museum of Modern Art Provenance

This particular portfolio has distinguished institutional provenance. It entered the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, as a gift from Mrs. Lucille Bunin Askin in 1981, the year the portfolio was produced.

It remained in the Museum’s collection until subsequently sold as Property of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, to Benefit its Acquisitions Program. The portfolio brings together many of Stoumen’s best-known images, ranging from his early New York street photography and wartime photographs in Asia to later work in California and Mexico. Collectively, the images provide a concentrated survey of the documentary and deeply humanistic approach that characterized his career.

Included are:

Sailor & Girl, 1940
Times Square in the Rain, 1940
Black Cat Bar & Brothel, 1942
Dying Girl, 1942
War & Peace, 1943
Bomb Pin, 1944
Old Man, Boy Soldier, 1944
The Taj Mahal from the Air, 1944
The Day FDR Died, 1945
Baby/Bed/Jesus, 1950
Young Woman, 1962
The Lovers, 1969
Adobe Church, 1977
Black Horse, Black Dog, 1978
Fantasy Car, 1978
43rd Street Off Broadway, 1978
Street Woman, 1979
The Barber, 1979
The Butcher, 1979
Storm, 1979

Printed in 1981, each photograph is presented on a sheet measuring approximately 20 × 15⅞ inches and remains loose as issued within its titled portfolio wrapper.

The complete suite is preserved in the original black metal portfolio case.

Title: Forty Years
Artist: Lou Stoumen
Date: Photographs 1940–1979; printed 1981
Edition: No. 17 of 50
Medium: Twenty gelatin silver prints
Signed: All twenty prints signed by Lou Stoumen; signed and numbered justification sheet
Sheet dimensions: Approximately 20 × 15⅞ in. (50.8 × 40.3 cm)
Presentation: Titled wrappers and original metal portfolio case

Provenance

Mrs. Lucille Bunin Askin, gift, 1981.

The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Property of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, sold to benefit its Acquisitions Program.

Condition

Very good. The twenty gelatin silver prints are well preserved. The original metal portfolio case shows areas of surface scuffing consistent with age and use.

A scarce complete portfolio of Stoumen’s photography, particularly distinguished by its twenty individually signed photographs, edition of only 50, and direct provenance from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York.