ACTORS by W. EUGENE SMITH - 1949 - RARE PRINT Published in Life Magazine, February 14, 1949 Start Price USD 3,750.00 Current Price USD 3,750.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price USD 5,000.00 Reserve Price - Start Time Friday, August 29, 2008 End Time Monday, September 08, 2008 Location Cardiff, CA See more about 'ACTORS by W. EUGENE SMITH - 1949 - RARE PRINT' Description     OFFERED BY HARRAH IMAGES   www.harrahimages.com Please visit my website for other vintage images by W. Eugene Smith and Robert S. Harrah, that will be offered for sale/auction in the near future. Actors by W. Eugene Smith - 1949The print you are bidding on is a vintage, unmounted, gelatin silver print, image size 13 9/16" X 10 7/16" on 14" X 11" paper. It is in very good condition. The print is not signed, titled or identified in any way. See information and provenance below. Published in Life Magazine, "Hard Times on Broadway" essay, February 14, 1949. Also published in reference 4) below. PLEASE NOTE: The photo of the print in the listing has some color reflection on the bottom that is NOT ON THE PRINT ITSELF. I took the photo through glass to keep it perfectly flat. Condition Report: A condition report for this print was prepared by Barbara Pope, Registrar, Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA), San Diego, on February 26, 2008. A copy of the condition report and MOPA cover letter are shown above. Appraisal: An appraisal of this image was completed by Penelope Dixon & Associates on April 21, 2008. Two of the prints from this rare collection were recently sold to prestigious galleries in New York for $4,000.00 and $8,000.00 each. Reserve/Pricing: There is NO RESERVE on this auction. The Buy It Now price is below the actual apprasied value set by Penelope Dixon & Associates.Provenance: My father, Robert S. Harrah, was W. Eugene Smith's assistant from December 1947 through summer 1949. This fact is well documented in references 1), 2) and 3) listed below. The photograph currently for sale is part of a collection of  20 prints that were given to my father upon his departure to California from New York in 1949. This act, gift, is documented in reference 6) below. They are directly from the Smith studio in New York and were printed prior to or during 1949. The value of this collection is that they are prints made very close to the time the photos were taken, likely with the original negatives, and not made later by Mr. Smith for reproduction or commercial purposes. The prints have been faithfully stored by our family. Mr. Harrah donated 9 of the original 20 prints to MOPA in San Diego and were part of their opening exhibit of the W. Eugene Smith Collection in 1983. They continue to be a part of MOPA's permanent collection. References:1)       Shadow and Substance, The Life and Work of an American Photographer, by Jim Hughes, McGraw-Hill, 1989. 2)       W. Eugene Smith and the Photographic Essay, by Glenn Willumson, Cambridge University Press, 1992. 3)       W. Eugene Smith: Let Truth be the Prejudice, Aperture, 1985. 4)       W. Eugene Smith, Master of the Photographic Essay, edited by William Johnson, Aperture, 1981. 5)       W. Eugene Smith, His Photographs and Notes, Aperture, 1969. 6)       Gene and Me.....and Photojournalism. by Robert S. Harrah. This is an unpublished memoir of Robert Harrah's time with W. Eugene Smith.  A copy of the memoir is part of the Robert S. Harrah Collection at the Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. It is also extensively quoted in references 1), 2) and 3) listed above. Please email me through eBay if you have any questions! Thanks and good luck bidding! www.harrahimages.com   **     Place a Bid!