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 Laurence Miller
Gallery will present a memorial tribute to Helen Levitt from May 9 –
June 26, 2009. Helen Levitt passed away in her
Greenwich Village home on March 29, at the age of 95.
Ironically, or perhaps fittingly, a show of her work entitled
Passages, which Helen
had approved, was already in the works, and her death caused a momentary
pause in how to proceed. It was decided that Helen would not have
wanted her passing to intrude upon best laid plans. Hence, guided by
her spirit, we celebrate her legacy with this exhibition, her twelfth at
Laurence Miller Gallery.
HELEN LEVITT: A
Memorial Tribute will present a series of passages, in both color
and black-and-white, from her extraordinary 70-year career.
Featured will be her pictures of animals, which were among her earliest
as well as last pictures taken; a little-known series of portraits taken
on the subway using Walker Evans’ camera; children’s street drawings;
elderly folks in conversation; and children at play, the photographs for
which she is most well-known. Helen Levitt’s classic and rarely
seen silent film, In the Street,
from 1944, will be shown as well.
One of the tribute’s
highlights will be a selection of never-before-exhibited “first proofs.”
These early documents of her working methods are often unique. Some are
vintage, others were printed as late as the 1970’s, but all were printed
by Helen in her bathroom that doubled as the darkroom. Often they are
variants of iconic images, and often they are sequences of several shots
taken at the same time. They all reveal the photographer’s “dance” as
she observes boys climbing up a tree, a large family gathering on the
front stoop, two men seated beside a curious cat, or four boys peering
into a pool hall. In combination with the film
In the Street, the early
sequences reinforce her reputation as a cinematographer, and are genuine
and valuable records of the working methods of a canny and poetic
photographer.
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New York, c.1940
14 x 11" silver print
Signed, titled on verso
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New York, c.1940
5 x 4" silver print
Signed on verso
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New York, c.1940
4 1/2 x 2 1/2" silver print
Signed on verso
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New York, c.1940
7 1/2 x 4 1/4" silver print
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New York, c.1940
2 x 2"
silver print
Signed on verso
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New York, c.1940
3 x 2 1/4" silver print
Signed on verso
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New York, c.1940
4 x 3 1/2" silver print
Signed on verso
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New York, c.1940
3 3/4 x 2 1/2" silver print
Signed on verso
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New York, c.1940
11 x 14" silver print
Signed, titled on verso
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New York, c.1940
8 x 10" vintage silver print
Signed by Helen Levitt and
Walker Evans verso
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New York, c.1938
10 x 8" vintage silver print
Signed verso
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New York, c.1938
5 1/2 x 8" vintage silver print
Signed verso |
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New York, c.1940
14 x 11" silver print
Signed, titled verso
Courtesy Estate of Helen Levitt
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New York,
c.1940
6 x 7" vintage silver print
Signed, titled verso
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New York, c.1940
14 x 11" silver print
Signed, titled verso
Courtesy Estate of Helen Levitt
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New York, c.1980
14 x 11" silver print
Signed, titled verso
Courtesy Estate of Helen Levitt
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New York, c.1940
8 x 10" silver print
Signed, titled verso
Courtesy Estate of Helen Levitt |
New York, c.1940
11 x 14" silver print
Signed, titled verso
Courtesy Estate of Helen Levitt
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New York, c.1940
11 x 14" silver print
Signed, titled verso
Courtesy Estate of Helen Levitt
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New York, c.1940
11 x 14" silver print
Signed, titled verso
Courtesy Estate of Helen Levitt
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New York, c.1940
11 x 14" silver print
Signed, titled verso
Courtesy Estate of Helen Levitt
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New York, c.1940
11 x 14" silver print
Signed, titled verso
Courtesy Estate of Helen Levitt
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New York, c.1940
11 x 14" silver print
Signed, titled verso
Courtesy Estate of Helen Levitt
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New Hampshire, 1983
11 x 14" silver print
Signed verso
Courtesy Estate of Helen Levitt
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New York, c.1940
7 x 4/12" silver print
Signed on verso |
New York (subway), c.1941
8 x 10" vintage silver print
Signed on verso
Courtesy The Margulies Collection, Miami
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New York (subway), c.1941
8 x 10" vintage silver print
Signed on verso
Courtesy The Margulies Collection, Miami
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New York (subway), c.1941
8 x 10" vintage silver print
Signed on verso
Courtesy The Margulies Collection, Miami
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New York (subway), c.1941
8 x 10" vintage silver print
Signed on verso
Courtesy The Margulies Collection, Miami
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New York (subway), c.1941
8 x 10" vintage silver print
Signed on verso
Courtesy The Margulies Collection, Miami
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